By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a ruling issued this week, Federal Court Justice Fuhrer awarded $29.7 million to a group of Canadian media (Bell Media, Rogers Media and TVA) and distribution companies (Bell Canada and Bell ExpressVu, Rogers Cable and Vidéotron) as compensation for lost revenues, punitive damages and legal costs.
The defendants (INL3D, Morcor and Ottawa Tek) have advertised, offered for sale and sold preloaded set-top boxes (STB) and IPTV services, therefore distributing content illegally without authorization from rights holders, depriving them of significant revenues.
These companies did not offer a defence, but the Court ruled against them, satisfied with the evidence presented by the applicants.
The action was initiated in May 2016 against five defendants and included an injunction request, which they obtained, “seeking to enjoin them from configuring, advertising, offering for sale and selling preloaded set-top boxes and subscriptions to unauthorized IPTV services,” the ruling stated.
The injunction obtained also applied to around 175 more individuals or companies identified as being engaged in the same activity.
The injunction was temporary, but it was rendered permanent in this week’s judgment.
A growing industry, the sale of preloaded set top boxes lures Canadian customers with cheap or free access to popular television content. The industry was somewhat contained by the injunction, which simplified the prosecution of sellers that had a physical presence in shopping centres and boutiques in Canada. Many other countries, Cartt.ca has learned, are dealing with the same problem.
Although this ruling in and of itself does nothing to counter the manufacturing and on-line sale of STBs, it does constitute a clear message to those who enable illegal and unauthorized access to content, showing they will face stiff legal repercussions.
Bell and Quebecor have both released statements welcoming the court’s ruling.
“Bell invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year to develop, produce, acquire and deliver great Canadian and international content over multiple platforms, but content piracy continues to undermine the entire media industry, including the work of many Canadians,” said Wade Oosterman, president of Bell Media and vice chair of BCE and Bell. “By imposing stiff financial penalties on companies that enable and promote unauthorized access to content online and via set-top box add-ons, the Federal Court has sent a clear message.”
Quebecor, in its own release stated: “Legal actions are among the concrete steps Quebecor has taken to protect itself against content theft. Quebecor will continue fighting vigorously against the piracy of its content and the theft of television signals, as it has done in the past. This issue has serious implications for jobs in the television industry and for the economy as a whole, and ultimately hurts all consumers.”
Although the ruling only applied to the three defendants mentioned previously, we can expect the 175 others engaged in this illegal activity will soon be the object of similar court actions to obtain compensation.
