The rightsholder for Dallas Buyers Club, Dallas Buyers Club LLC, has filed a lawsuit against 31 people accused of illegally sharing copies of the movie.
Though Dallas Buyers Club LLC filed the lawsuit, studio Voltage Producers also is known for suing Internet pirates for sharing its films, like The Hurt Locker, reports Variety. They hope to get the Internet users identified and to likely settle out of court for a few thousand dollars.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Texas, where the 31 defendants reside according to "geolocation technology."
Lawsuits targeting many users for copyright infringement lawsuits are commonly known as "mass joinder" suits where the rights-owner hopes to get the court to subpoena ISPs for personal information of those being accused. Then threatening letters are sent off in hopes of scaring people to settle out of court.
THR notes that success of the suits often depend on the judge that the suit draws. Some are lenient and willing to let the lawsuits proceed, while others feel it is an "unseemly practice."
Variety notes that these lawsuits are becoming less common at they must be filed in the same district as where users live and ISPs are not always forthcoming on providing the sought after information.
image: EPK.TV