To Topware Interactive

Aug 20, 2008 15:27 GMT  ·  By

Patents County Court in London has decided that Isabella Barwinska, a British woman who downloaded and shared a copy of Topware Interactive's Dream Pinball 3D, should pay a great amount of money for copyright infringement. More exactly, over 16,000 pounds, which translate into approximately $30,000. This after the woman, along with other hundreds of digital pirates, was sent letters in which she was asked to pay 300 pounds prejudice for illegal share of the company's products.

Davenport Lyons, the London based law firm which was hired to send notifications on behalf of several entertainment companies to those who profited from products they had not paid for, comments on the situation in the U.K.

"Illegal file-sharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners. As downloading speeds and Internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues. [...] The damages and costs ordered by the Court are significant and should act as a deterrent. This shows that taking direct steps against infringers is an important and effective weapon in the battle against online piracy," says David Gore, a partner at Davenport Lyons.

The 500 hundred letters that have been sent until now to those who were suspected of sharing illegal files are just the start. The High Court of London had already ordered that approximately 7,000 people who are believed to have used and shared copyrighted works should be sent warning letters. The next step is that the affected companies ask for some minor damages. If the person doesn't respond positively to the claim, what follows is legal action. In the case of the London woman, law expenses reached 10,000 pounds, while the damages to be paid to Topware Interactive represented only 6,000 pounds. The main idea is that, once the program of tracking down copyright "thieves" has already started, people should pay what they are asked to when first notified.