Popcorn Time-panic: get a claim on the doormat?

In Germany it is already much more common that downloaders of illegal content including Popcorn Time-users have to pay damages. The copyright holder allows the letter to: either a lawsuit, either pay compensation of hundreds of euros. Many pay to avoid a trip to the court.

Also in the Netherlands yesterday threatened with fines for illegally streaming movies. Dutch Popcorn Time-users should start worrying for German practices? Five questions about the legal story behind Popcorn Time.

You may use in Netherlands Popcorn Time? 
It is a criminal offense in the Netherlands to download copyrighted material from illegal sources.In addition, it is illegal to upload illegally obtained material. If you download a movie illegally, you actually go to the movies without paying for a ticket.

If an owner wants to work on, it can turn into a civil lawsuit. You get wrong of the judge, then you should probably pay compensation to the owner. Upon payment of such compensation will get a registration in the judicial records (criminal record).

Popcorn Time to stream your movies and series. Is that like downloading as illegal? 
Yes. Popcorn Time to stream over download and upload illegally obtained material. According to ICT lawyer Arnoud Engelfriet of consultancy ICTRecht the law makes no distinction between downloading and streaming, "It's probably in the Netherlands illegally download Streaming is not in the classic sense, but legally it does not matter.."

"The law determines whether you have a copy of copyrighted material manufactured illegally, or if you share this material illegally obtained by someone else. Stream is here probably under."

Is it realistic that I will soon have to pay a compensation for my Popcorn Time-use? 
According Engelfriet it is theoretically possible: "You can quite easily collect IP addresses of Popcorn Time users who violate copyright The obstacle is only the ISP that can link an IP address to a person's ISP.. a court may be obliged to hand over the data, but only if the privacy interest does not outweigh the infringement of rights. In Popcorn Time-users contemplating legal infringement probably outweigh the privacy interest. "

But it is then still doubt as Engelfriet or successors suddenly flocking letters start sending damages: "It is not done for 15 years, so why now suddenly it?"

BREIN director Tim Kuik confirms that the collecting society for the time being is not going to go after individual users, but the copyright holders can support it in such cases by, for example legal and technical knowledge transfer.

Kuik: "We are going after the big uploaders to, for example, make movies on Popcorn Time available but they are not empty slogans of copyright owners I get to hear reports that several organizations are working to orient themselves to such steps against Popcorn Time-.. users to take. Whether they continue that is the question, but the water is really them on the lips. "

One of those rightholders who 'water to the lips is, "is the Dutch film distributor Dutch Filmworks.The company has among others the Dutch distribution rights to films like The Wolf of Wall Streetto The Expendables 2. "It creates a lot of frustration that we work very hard to make beautiful films and distributed and they are just free to see. We know that it makes no sense to get The Pirate Bay from the air, but we want to demonstrate that illegal downloaders are wrong, "said spokesman Peter de Haan.

"The idea now is that you're illegal Popcorn Time may use and which you do not get caught. This is for us unacceptable. We are conducting talks with Internet service providers to track IP addresses. If they cooperate, we can move quickly to sending settlement proposals. For this we are working with an IT company that does similar cases in Germany and Denmark. If the ISPs do not cooperate, then the court is a logical next step. "

How such compensation is regulated in the Netherlands? 
In the Netherlands, the rule that statutory damages should be fixed. Engelfriet: "Most of copyright infringements are counted the cost of the license, such as the price that a photographer normally asks for the use of his photograph when illegal streaming a film is such damages equal to, for example a few bucks. For a DVD, or a few euros to digitally rent the movie. "

"The problem lies in the deliberate violation of copyright. If you lose the case, you pay in addition to the potential damages of a few decades, the cost of the lawsuit to 8,000 euros. That comes down to for example 8030 euros. You can then ask yourself whether a lawsuit it is all worth, or if you prefer to pay a settlement proposal of 100 euros. "

According Kuik compensation can exceed a few bucks because Popcorn Time-users while streaming a movie also contribute to the illegal distribution of copyrighted material. As a result, the damage could be substantially higher.

Dutch Filmworks also wants higher compensation requirements. De Haan: "We advised us by lawyers, but it's not about a few bucks the claims are similar to those of Denmark and Germany, where usually hundreds of euros demanded it must have a deterrent effect, because a decade has that.. do not. "

Popcorn Time-users should be afraid? 
That now appears to be so bad. There are currently few copyright holders intending to send claims to Popcorn Time users. Copyright holders must first collect the IP addresses, through the courts to enforce the personal data of the owners of IP addresses and then enable an agency to send the claims. It is important for a copyright owner to assess whether the costs for this process outweigh the damages.

Additionally, ensure technical innovations make it increasingly easier to stream anonymously.Thus Popcorn Time offers the possibility to make use of a VPN, a sort of secure connection that shields your ip-address. In addition, people can use their own VPN service to hide their real IP address so that the Popcorn Time use is undetectable. De Haan confirms VPN a very difficult technological innovation 'where Dutch Filmworks's not going to win.

Also, legal Popcorn Time alternatives becoming popular. Recent research shows that Netflix has 1.1 million Dutch users. This is in comparison to other countries are very much. Additionally you with Videoland, Google Play Movies, HBO Go and iTunes a wide range of legal streaming services. De Haan is pleased with the rising popularity of these alternatives: "But free is simply no alternative."

RTL Z / Daniel Verlaan