Antonelli Law is one of the leading law firms in the country defending BitTorrent copyright infringement lawsuits. Antonelli Law has represented more than 1,500 clients since 2011 dealing with copyright trolls and satellite piracy trolls in nearly every federal court these cases have appeared. We can represent you in your federal copyright infringement defense no matter which state you live, and no more expensively than a local attorney in nearly all cases.

Click here to contact us for a free  BitTorrent defense lawyer consultation or call us at 312-201-8310.What is a “Copyright Troll” Lawsuit and How Did I Get Involved?Companies that believe their copyrighted movies (or sometimes software) are being downloaded or “shared” on the Internet without their being paid a license fee will hire companies who monitor BitTorrent traffic to learn the IP addresses associated with the downloads called BitTorrent “swarms”. But only having an IP address is pretty meaningless. How can they sue an IP address?Read the following for details of the lawsuit steps or skip down to the section titled “The ISP Letter – Your Notice of the Lawsuit.”The Filing of the Lawsuit – “John Doe” Defendants

The companies first hire law firms to file copyright infringement lawsuits in federal courts around the country. In the lawsuit’s Complaint and motions filed with the Court they allege:

1) They own the registered copyright to a protected “work” in copyright legalese (meaning usually the movie), and

2) They have the IP address(es) involved in the download/swarm, but need the court’s assistance to uncover the internet account subscriber who is associated with the IP address(es) involved in the downloading/swarm.

Note: Since the company does not yet know the identity of the person they believe is responsible for the copyright infringement activity, the lawsuit title (called “caption”) is Plaintiff against one or more unnamed Defendants usually called “Does” as in John Doe, Jane Doe, or Does 1-15.

So, the lawsuits are often filed with captions such as:

Malibu Media LLC v Doe
LHF Productions v. Does 1-15
Criminal Productions v. Does 1-15
Cell Film Holdings v. Does 1-15
Fathers & Daughters Nevada v Does 1-15

Others will file against unnamed defendants in the following ways:

Popcorn Time Users 1-10

Does 1-10 in Swarm Hash File Number
SHA1:6891D2D926CF288A517471D34419A95354D3DC8F

Motion for Expedited Discovery

In the next step, the company asserting the copyright, called the Plaintiff, files a motion with the court requesting special permission to issue a subpoena to the ISP that their database says services that IP address (this is the non-technical explanation). Under federal rules (Rule 45), a subpoena can normally only be issued much later in the development of a lawsuit.

Because the Plaintiff believes it cannot serve its lawsuit onto the person who pays the internet bill, called the Internet “subscriber”, until they know who that person is, the Plaintiff has to file a special motion to expedite discovery. If the Court grants the motion, the Court will usually do so but will provide a number of rules that must be followed. See this example of a Court order allowing a special subpoena to an ISP. This will result in a letter to the ISP subscriber often referred to as “the ISP letter”, which is often your first notification that you are becoming the target of a federal copyright lawsuit.

The ISP Letter – Your Notice of the Lawsuit
Once the Court issues its Order allowing expedited discovery permitting the Plaintiff to issue subpoenas to the ISP (Internet Service Provider), once the ISP receives the subpoena it will then send you a letter informing you:

1) A subpoena has been received to reveal your identity in relation to a copyright infringement lawsuit.

2) If you do not file a motion to quash or vacate the subpoena, then after a certain amount of time such as two weeks or 30 days, the ISP will then turn over your name to the Plaintiff who filed the lawsuit.

3) Sometimes, the ISP will advise you to speak with an attorney such as those listed with the EFF Subpoena Defense which Antonelli Law is.

What Do I Do After Receiving the ISP Letter?

As described above, you should consult with a BitTorrent defense lawyer experienced in BitTorrent copyright defense. Copyright infringement lawsuits are serious business because they involve potentially large statutory damage and attorney fee awards. But don’t panic. There are ways to deal effectively with the lawsuit, protect your identity in many cases, and even settle the lawsuit before you are ever served with the lawsuit. You can also discuss with your attorney how to begin planning to defend against the lawsuit.

This is especially important when dealing with a Malibu Media LLC lawsuit. Malibu Media LLC lawsuit settlement demands have exceeded $50,000 so litigation to defend against their claims of copyright infringement is justified far more often.

Once you receive the ISP letter, the Court believes you are “on notice” of the lawsuit and therefore you have a duty not to delete or get rid of anything the Court might believe would be relevant to the lawsuit. Examples of things you must NOT do are: erasing or reformatting your computer hard drive, or throwing the computer away.

If you receive a letter from your ISP call Antonelli Law for a free initial consultation at 312-201-8310
or use our contact form or email us for an immediate reply to get started.

Why Should I Hire Antonelli Law?

Our high level of service sets us apart. If you need to speak with an attorney about receiving an ISP notice or summons about a BitTorrent copyright lawsuit anywhere in the country, call us for a free initial consultation with an attorney at 312-201-8310 or use our contact form or email us for an immediate reply to get started.

We appreciate the confidence other attorneys have shown referring their clients to our firm for this niche area. We are available to attorneys around the country for co-counsel assistance.

ISPs That Receive Subpoenas to Reveal Subscribers’ Identities

ISPs that receive subpoenas to reveal the identities of Internet subscribers based on their IP address include:

AT&T
CenturyLink
Charter
Comcast
COX
Frontier
Hawaiian Telecom
Optimum
Time Warner
Verizon
Windstream

…. and more.

An Overview of BitTorrent Copyright Infringment

“Copyright trolls” are law firms or individual lawyers who adopted a lucrative scheme to profit from copyright infringement allegations through what many call extortion. Copyright trolls represent holders of copyrights on movies (mostly pornography), software, and electronic books. We have represented many people targeted by these firms and know what you are going through.

To get an overview of this type of litigation and what you might expect to experience, click here for Jeffrey Antonelli’s article Torrent Wars: Copyright trolls, legitimate IP rights, and the need for new rules vetting evidence and to amend the Copyright Act published by the Illinois State Bar Association’s Intellectual Property section, October 2013.

The article “John Doe Copyright Suits’ No.1 Target” quoting Jeffrey Antonelli is also helpful to understand the rise of BitTorrent “John Doe” copyright lawsuits, including by Malibu Media LLC.

Recent Press on Antonelli Law
Click here for an NPR/WBEZ interview with attorney Jeffrey Antonelli.

“Often times people tell us, look, I can’t deal with this. This will put my job at risk. Or my reputation in the community–to have me named in a copyright lawsuit involving pornography could be devastating. So, I want to settle.”

• Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article, quoting Jeffrey Antonelli

• Chicago NBC 5 television interview of Jeffrey Antonelli

• MotherJones on Dallas Buyers Club LLC Lawsuits, quoting Jeffrey Antonelli

• Grand Rapids WZZM television interview of Jeffrey Antonelli

• Detroit Free Press quoting attorney Jeffrey Antonelli

• Michigan’s State News quoting attorney Jeffrey Antonelli

Our Legal Services

We offer a reasonable Flat Fee for motions to quash, helping you settle and remain anonymous in many cases; and reasonable fees for defending you if you are named as a defendant in a copyright infringement lawsuit. Selected severe financial hardship cases are handled on a reduced or pro bono basis. Attorney Antonelli has more than a decade of solid litigation experience in a broad range of commercial litigation as plaintiff and defendant, and every attorney at Antonelli Law is admitted to federal court.

In addition to being highly experienced in BitTorrent defense litigation and complex litigation in general, the attorneys of Antonelli Law are remarkable human beings with compassion, honesty, and integrity in their very fabric and give exemplary attention to our clients. We hope these qualities are as helpful to you in your case as our legal advice. At the time your BitTorrent matter is resolved, we hope you will confidently feel we did the best possible job for you. Many client return to us for other legal issues in the future, and a number of left positive reviews on Yelp, Avvo, and blogs focused on this area of law.

We have years of solid litigation experience representing consumers and businesses and concentrates in representing people accused of BitTorrent copyright infringement. Our last complex trial involved computer firewalls, sophisticated commercial networks, and a Microsoft certified expert. in short, Antonelli Law provides serious legal advice for your copyright troll defense.

Attorney Jeffrey Antonelli is admitted to the federal trial bar of the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois, and all the federal courts of Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. We have co-counsel for federal copyright infringement cases in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. When a case calls from other states than these we proceed with pro hac vice admission as we have numerous times.

Hiring Antonelli Law Is No More Expensive than Hiring a Local Attorney in Your State

Hiring Antonelli Law to represent you in your federal case is not more expensive, or more difficult, compared to hiring a local attorney assuming you could find one experienced in BitTorrent copyright infringement defense. Federal court practice allows us to represent clients in any federal court in the country.

Why isn’t it more expensive? Federal courts require attorneys to file their papers electronically and often conduct hearings by telephone. This makes frequent trips to the courthouse unnecessary.  Clients normally pay only for the normal travel time to the courthouse any local attorney would charge.

Finally, we have affiliated local counsel in a number of states who have earned our trust and can appear in court if necessary on an expedited basis. We will make arrangements to be in court personally when necessary such as non-routine hearings or a trial.