Skip to main content
The VergeThe Verge logo.The Verge homepage
The VergeThe Verge logo.

'Hurt Locker' studio returns to the courtroom with piracy suit against 2,500 new defendants

'Hurt Locker' studio returns to the courtroom with piracy suit against 2,500 new defendants

/

The studio behind 'The Hurt Locker' has filed a new copyright infringement lawsuit against 2,514 unknown Florida users, alleging that they illegally downloaded the film in 2010.

By Adi Robertson, a senior tech and policy editor focused on VR, online platforms, and free expression. Adi has covered video games, biohacking, and more for The Verge since 2011.

Source TorrentFreak

|

Share this story

via arts.columbia.edu
via arts.columbia.edu

In 2010, The Hurt Locker received a laundry list of Academy Awards and other accolades, but the film is also remembered for the massive copyright infringement lawsuits that accompanied it. That same year, production studio Voltage Pictures sued tens of thousands of people who it claimed had pirated the film, offering to settle for a few thousand dollars. Many of the cases were later dropped, but now the company is apparently going back for a second round: TorrentFreak has obtained details of another suit, this time filed against 2,514 anonymous defendants who allegedly shared The Hurt Locker on BitTorrent between April and July of 2010.

All the IP addresses listed are from Charter Communications in Florida. Voltage Pictures doesn't currently seem to have names for any of the alleged offenders, but it may be able to obtain them from the ISP, after which it would likely send settlement letters. The documents from TorrentFreak (PDF) are an initial filing from April 18th, outlining the complaints against the defendants; there's also a list (PDF) of all the accused addresses. Suing individual users has largely gone out of fashion among larger studios, and we're not sure yet where this will end up. However, the company has since filed a motion to expedite (PDF) discovery of the IP addresses, so Charter users may soon be getting settlement letters if the court rules favorably.

More from Smart Home