As Ynet reported today (hebrew), three file sharing websites located in Israel were shut down by Alis (Israeli’s MPAA equivalent). A gag order was removed after the successful August raid against three websites which allegedly infringed Alis’ copyright by publishing subtitles and images of movie posters and covers. The Last Round (hebrew link, english link) marked a tie as the court accepted a settlement where the sharing sites agreed not to post direct links for downloads. Though this is not the first raid, it seems harsher than the last strike.

During the last round, The major claim was that the usage of file sharing software is covered by the blank tapes clause (As opinioned by Yoarm Lichtenstein, counsel for Lala.co.il) The Argued Case NMC v. Hirsch (hebrew) did not settle this question, which will be settled if this case comes to court. However, even the new Israeli copyright act allows home recording.

The Legal question here is quite interesting; as the main claim here (and the only reasonable one) is that the hosting of the Images from movies next to their reviews (most sites did not provide a direct download link) is copyright infringement. Whilst the websites may be able to claim that this constitutes as “fair use”, the claim of Alis is that selling advertisements alongside the reviews is unjust enrichment (and therefore all review sites infringe copyright).

The interesting point is that though copyright infringement for commercial purposes in Israel is a criminal offense, Alis chose not to use the proper channels and try to press charges against the websites’ administrators. This choice may be strange, as criminal proceedings may cause Alis to benefit more.

As these sites were taken down, several other Israeli file sharing sites are up and running, and their future is yet to be determined.

Please assist by Digging this article

—
Image CC-BY-SA-NC Safety Freak