Case Study - Music Copyright Infringement

Service: Forensic IT

Background

The music industry has taken a strong stand against the use of commercial file sharing systems profiting off the back of music copyright infringement
In the wake of Napster, Kazaa became one of the most successful second generation peer to peer file sharing systems with a more decentralised model to Napster, more resistant to litigation
After Kazaa was taken over by Australian directors, the music industry sued the primary operators

FH assessed the depth and breadth of the Kazaa presence internationally and analysed the behaviour of Kazaa. We provided the foundation expert reports and affidavits to enable Anton Pillar orders to be concurrently served on 13 premises in 3 states and coordinated the computer forensic response
Ferrier Hodgson further provided key testimony evidence at the Kazaa trial
Ferrier Hodgson continue to work on the adoption of filtering into Kazaa post judgment

First time a peer to peer system has been prosecuted in the world and gone to trial with the Judge ruling in favour of the music industry
The judgment requires a filtering system be enforced or the system will be shut down