The owners of rights to the award-winning Dallas Buyers Club film have resorted to filings in the state courts of Oregon naming scores of unidentified internet users.
As was reported over the last few months, an entity known as “Dallas Buyer’s Club, LLC” had begun a series of Bittorrent copyright infringement lawsuits in the federal courts, including courts in Wisconsin, Texas and Illinois. An exemplary complaint from the Southern District of Texas is available here, courtesy of ArsTechnica.
These federal lawsuits follow a familiar pattern of naming several “Doe” parties as defendants and then seeking early discovery to identify the Does via a subpoena issued to their Internet Service Providers (ISP). The ISP typically then informs the service subscriber that the subpoena was sent, giving he or she only a brief period to respond.
Now, we see that Voltage Pictures, LLC has filed at least one action in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon, Marion County, Case No. 14C13823. Voltage Pictures is reportedly an investor in the original production of Dallas Buyers Club and has now elected to sue in its own name. Voltage became notorious for suing on an unprecedented scale a few years ago, naming literally tens of thousands of defendants to actions involving The Hurt Locker and The Expendables.
While review of the Marion County lawsuit is pending, it appears that the subpoenas already issued from that Court may be subject to question for lack of jurisdiction. No major ISPs are headquartered in Oregon and relevant electronic records are likely located outside of the State. Of course, a discussion with legal counsel of alternative options is advisable for those targeted in these cases.