Greek Site That Links To Legal Videos By Rightsholders… Sued For Infringement

from the the-illegality-of-linking dept

TorrentFreak has the details on yet another ridiculous story of “anti-piracy” groups going way too far. In this case, it’s the Greek Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AEPI), who has sued the site LiveMovies.gr for infringement, claiming the site is making available unauthorized content, and saying that it has “suffered damages worth 10,000 euros for each illegal act.” The only problem? LiveMovies.gr does not link to unauthorized content. It only links to content that is being officially streamed by the authorized rights holders. In other words, they’ve set up a “TV guide” of sorts to legitimate online streaming of content. They’ve explained this to the AEPI who apparently can’t comprehend that the site is only linking to authorized content, and continues to press forward with the lawsuit. In response, LiveMovies.gr is filing a countersuit against AEPI, claiming both fraud and perjury. Should be interesting to see what happens next…

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Companies: aepi

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Comments on “Greek Site That Links To Legal Videos By Rightsholders… Sued For Infringement”

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34 Comments
DogBreath says:

Re: Re: problem?

Actually as the creator of your own above comment, if you repost it without your own authorization, you should be able to sue yourself.

1) Get insurance policy that covers you in cases of copyright infringement.

2) Repost one of your entire posts without your legal consent.

3) Collect settlement (or judgment) from Insurance Company for willfully and maliciously infringing your own content.

4) Profit!

(I know, it sounds dumb, but I bet some lawyer somewhere is trying to find a legal loophole to make such a scheme work. If they could find a client who has a multiple personality disorder, and I bet they would think they have a case.)

Greg G (profile) says:

Ever time we see one of these stories, we all read in disbelief at how far these so-called “anti-piracy” groups will go.

Unfortunately, that disbelief has eroded completely, or is eroding fast with each new story. They now only illicit a head shake or, as Soundy reacted.. a *facepalm*, along with a long, drawn out “what next?” sigh.

I hope the Greek courts see fit to throw this out, and quickly.

DogBreath says:

Re: Re: Re:5 Re:

That could work too, but you would need to be constantly be flipping the spife around after cutting, to scoop. I think a knoon (knife-edged spoon) would be quicker, requiring no rotation at all.

After all, there is no telling how many “operations of swift, necessary, in the best interest of justice, the public and future humanity”, will be required (based entirely on the stupidity of some of the lawsuits brought forward, and the anger level of the judge that day), and if necessity is going to be the mother of invention then expediency should be the father.

Gwiz (profile) says:

Future TechDirt story:

Man sued for giving directions to local movie theater.

In this case, it’s the Imaginary Property Endangerment Enforcement (I-PEE), who has sued Hugh G. Leeindebt for infringement, claiming when asked where the theater was, he replied “Down there, on the right.”

“Since this a theater that shows authorized content to the public”, stated an I-PEE spokesperson, “and anyone with a cellphone can record that content and Mr. Leeindebt directed us to said theater, Mr. Leeindebt is obviously making available unauthorized content and as a result of this action we have suffered damages worth $4,387,175 USD for each illegal act committed by Mr. Leeindebt.”

Karl (profile) says:

Re: Re:

See, if this was an American action, ICE could have just seized the domain name

Sadly, you’re correct. Or at least, they would have, whether they could do it or not.

Following traditional legal processes is not cost effective and does not scale.

Sadly, again, you’re correct. In fact, this is probably the entire reason the IP industry wants Espinel/ICE handling these cases.

If they were civil suits, the plaintiffs would have a much harder time getting ex parte seizure orders, or even preliminary injunctions, they’d have to foot the entire legal bill, and they’d open themselves up to counter-suits for legal fees if they were wrong. None of this applies to criminal investigations, apparently.

In fact, language like this was in an early version of the PRO-IP act (the one that created the “IP Czar”). It was taken out after the DOJ objected to becoming, in their own words, “pro bono lawyers for private copyright holders.”

greek says:

May be noted that AEPI represents the music labels, not the TV networks. Their argument is, to my understanding, based around receiving “reproduction fee” (on top of the fees the networks pay). They demand that every real-life public site pays a fee to them, if they have a radio or a television around (this includes supermarkets playing background music, remote coffee shops up in the mountains that have a single pre-war radio device for the whole village, construction sites with workers listening music from their cellphones and singing in your bathroom while you shower). Apparently, they extend their business online, the site is a “public space”.

Needless to say, they are scums and they should go to hell.

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