FILM COMPANIES TO APPEAL IINET JUDGEMENT: ROADSHOW FILMS PTY LTD & ORS V IINET LIMITED

25 FEBRUARY 2010

34 Film companies today filed an appeal against the judgment of the Federal Court in
the case against the Australian internet service provider, iiNet.

Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), on behalf of the film
companies, said there were good grounds of appeal from a judgment that has left an
unworkable online environment for content creators and content providers and
represents a serious threat to Australia’s digital economy.

AFACT Executive Director Neil Gane representing the film companies said the
judgment was out of step with well established copyright law in Australia.

“The court found large scale copyright infringements, that iiNet knew they were
occurring, that iiNet had the contractual and technical capacity to stop them and iiNet
did nothing about them,” he said. ““In line with previous case law, this would have
amounted to authorization of copyright infringement.”

Mr Gane also said the decision rendered the safe harbour regime ineffective.

”This decision allows iiNet to pay lip service to provisions that were designed to
encourage ISPs to prevent copyright infringements in return for the safety the law
provided.

“If this decision stands, the ISPs have all the protection without any of the
responsibility.”

“By allowing internet companies like iiNet to turn a blind eye to copyright theft, the
decision harms not just the studios that produce and distribute movies, it but also
Australia’s creative community and all those whose livelihoods depend on a vibrant
entertainment industry,” he said.

The Notice of Appeal, which contains 15 grounds of appeal, was filed with the Federal
Court today. The appeal is likely to be heard later this year.

ENDS

For further information contact:
Rebecca Tabakoff, FD Third Person
Ph: +61 2 8298 6100 or +61 (0)419 229 878
rebecca.tabakoff@fdthirdperson.com.au

About the case
Thirty four parties representing Australian and US film companies and the Seven
Network, filed a legal action against iiNet in November 2008.

The launching of a legal action followed a 5 month investigation by AFACT with weekly
notices sent to iiNet identifying the IP addresses of those customers who had infringed
the film companies’ copyright.
The hearing of the case commenced in the Federal Court on 6 October 2009 and ran
for a total of 20 days in Sydney. The decision of the case was handed down on 4
February 2010.

About AFACT
AFACT works closely with industry, government, police and educational institutions to
address copyright theft and protect the interests of the film and television industry as
well as the interests of Australian movie fans.

In 2009, State and Federal Police conducted 69 raids involving movie piracy and
seized 194,233 pirated DVDs. They also seized 749 burners capable of producing over
18 million pirated DVDs a year with a potential street value of over $94million.

Australia’s copyright industries are the 3rd largest contributors as a percentage of GDP
in the world, second only to the US and UK.

In 2006/07 they contributed 10.3% GDP to Australia’s economy [up 66% since 1996],
represented 8% of our employment and generated 4.1% of total exports.

The film and TV industry in Australia alone contributed $4.4 billion to GDP and supports
50,000 jobs, including small businesses under threat from movie and TV piracy, and
independent cinemas, video rental stores and film and television producers across the
country.

In 2007, the film and TV sector contributed an estimated $1.8 billion in tax to the
Australian Government.