I logged into the settlement site. It is called "Copyright Settlements". It looks legitimate and it states the following
CEG TEK International (CEG) has tracked and authenticated the following unauthorized use(s) listed below. We are offering you a settlement that is significantly lower than the expenses, fees and substantial monetary damages associated with litigation. Upon settling you will instantly receive a full & unconditional release of liability. The text of liability release is available for review by clicking here.
Can I really trust the "liability release" that they say we will have? Thank you!
Oh, also - I found out my son wasn't completely honest with me and that there were a few more files I found on the computer. I have deleted them. I have not received any notice about them. If I pay this one settlement (which I do want to do - my son did make the download) will it open the floodgates to more of these settlement letters? I'm really freaked out because my husband and are completely broke living paycheck to paycheck and do not have the money to pay for all of this.
Thank you for starting your own thread, catwoman71. It is preferred on this site that a poster ask their own questions in a new thread instead of tacking questions on to the end of a very old thread, especially when the old thread is a long one, the new questions do not relate in a meaningful way to the old questions, and when the questions involve a different state.
I agree with LdiJ that you should probably speak with an attorney in your area for a review of the facts and to have the attorney look over the notice of infringement you received from your ISP and CEG TEK International. With a January 25 deadline to settle, time is short, so I would start contacting attorneys now.
Settling now will allow for you to keep your identifying information relatively private. An early settlement tends to
preserve your anonymity by preventing your personal identifying information from becoming part of a public court record.
If your ISP has been
subpoenaed, it has no choice but to release your identifying account information, or be in contempt of a court order. Once your account information is released, you become a named defendant in the copyright infringement action.
Before considering any settlement, you want to make sure
FIRST that the entity claiming infringement has standing to sue (owns rights in the film) and that the film in question was registered prior to the date of infringement (entitling the company to collect statutory damages) and that you are, in fact, being sued. The entity suing you
should have evidence enough to support the infringement claim against you (tracking records).
Until a complaint has been filed against you (or a "John Doe" you) and/or a subpoena issued for your ISP, there is no court order compelling your ISP to release your identifying information, and there is no legal requirement and you are under no legal obligation to pay any settlement demand. Once you are sued, you may feel under more pressure to settle - although, once sued, the settlement demand amount of $200 offered before litigation will probably increase substantially to cover the added costs that will be incurred by the copyright holder. It is something to consider.
If the entity does not have standing to sue and/or if the film was not registered in a timely fashion, you should not have to pay any settlement amount at all. Late registration would only entitle a copyright holder to profits realized or actual damages, and these are generally difficult or impossible to prove. Very few infringers of your son's type has made any money off the illegal download, other than the minimal cost of the film itself.
It is important to note, however, that these factors (no standing, untimely registration) rarely exist in an infringement suit, but they are important to check out on the off-chance you can escape the suit without paying anything.
Agreeing to settle the infringement with an agreement containing a
confidentiality clause will enable you to maintain your anonymity (preventing your name from being connected publicly with the illegal download of a pornographic film) and it will also prevent you from having to pay what could be a substantially higher amount later, should the matter go to court. You may even be able to negotiate for an amount lower than the $200 figure, although that is generally the bottom line in these copyright infringement suits. The $200 is the lowest amount that would be awarded in court against a defendant for "innocent" infringement (those who infringe without intending to) and it is only awarded at the court's discretion (in other words, it is not a guarantee). The plaintiff, if the work was registered in a timely fashion, is entitled to statutory damages of between $750 and $30,000 per infringement otherwise.
Any agreement you decide to make with the plaintiff should be reviewed by an attorney prior to paying a settlement demand amount, to protect you from any additional claims filed against you for the same film. However, if your son illegally downloaded more than one movie, you may find (and probably will find) that you have to pay for each film. If the films are owned by the same company, you may be able to negotiate one payment for all, but you should plan on paying more than just $200, especially if the illegal downloads were films owned by several different companies. There can be some serious dollars involved with the download of several different movies.
The attorney you see will start by reviewing the court documents, if a suit has been filed. The attorney will make sure that the company has rights in the film and is legally entitled to compensation. The attorney can determine after a review of all of the facts if you can mount a winning defense against the infringement claim or if it is wiser to settle. If there is no legitimate defense, the attorney can generally work with the plaintiff to get you the lowest settlement amount (this may very well be the $200 offered). And the attorney can help to ensure that your identities are protected, with an agreement that contains a confidentiality clause.
Finally, I
know there are several websites, most of which were started by copyright infringers, that claim that all demand letters are extortion, that all copyright holders sending settlement letters are trolls, and that people should not pay any amounts demanded because the notices of infringement are scams. I have not encountered nor heard of any copyright infringement scams, trolls or extortionists - just copyright holders trying to be compensated for the infringement of their works.
So, I do not intend to argue here about trolls, scams, extortionists or the wrongs or rights of copyright infringement actions. There are plenty of other sites for that. If you are concerned about who sent you a notice and why, however, you should consult with an attorney in your area and have the attorney address your concerns.
A copyright infringer always has the option of not paying what a copyright holder is asking in the way of settlement, and the copyright infringer can always hope the copyright holder will just go away. But this could wind up being a very costly option to take.
Again, I recommend that you contact an attorney in Illinois who is well-versed in copyright law, and go from there.
Good luck.
