The pirates themselves are too hard to catch individually, and suing customers is
not a good look for film studios.

THE High Court has decided that an internet service provider (ISP) is not liable for
any copyright piracy by its customers.

Even though the Hollywood movie studios and television networks had notified the
ISP of the bad conduct of several customers, that was not sufficient to make the ISP
liable. The decision is not a surprise. Australia Post is not liable for copyright
infringement if it delivers a pirated DVD. The court has confirmed that the same
rules apply to ISPs.

Copyright owners prefer to bring legal actions against intermediates, rather than end
users. It is not a good look to sue customers, even if they are engaged in infringing
activities. Also, it is harder work to find and sue each person who downloads a
pirated movie. Bringing legal proceedings against ISPs, which are the gatekeepers to
the internet, seemed like a more efficient approach to stopping infringement. But the
High Court has taken away that weapon for copyright owners in this instance.

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