Copyright Trolling

Sex, Shrugs and Rock N’roll: Peer to Peer Downloading and Copyright Trolling – the Policing of Intellectual Property Cybercrimes?

David Wall, from the Durham University, made a contribution to the 2012 Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, in the category “Traditional and New Forms of Crime and Deviance,” under the title “Sex, Shrugs and Rock N’roll: Peer to Peer Downloading and Copyright Trolling – the Policing of Intellectual Property Cybercrimes?”. Here is the abstract: New digital and networked technologies have disrupted longstanding power relations between the cultural industries and the public. Digital technologies now cause individuals to consume intellectual property (music, movies, imagery) in different ways – they ‘prosume’ it. As a consequence the business models relating to digital IP have changed and the point of sale has shifted to the live event. Yet, creative industry still tends to pursue ‘traditional’ means of recovery. This paper explores the phenomena of ‘Copyright trolling’ – the (ill)legal practice known as speculative invoicing. It will draw upon recent cases of copyright litigation brought in the UK courts and will analyse them in the light of similar US cases to build up a picture of IP litigation tactics in common law jurisdictions. It will ask, to what extent IP lawyers have been using the ‘shadow of the law’ creatively and entrepreneurially to embarrass defendants into making payments and has this form of faux litigation had the effect of policing copyright under the shadow of law?[rtbs name=”criminology”]

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Further Reading

• “Sex, Shrugs and Rock N’roll: Peer to Peer Downloading and Copyright Trolling – the Policing of Intellectual Property Cybercrimes?”, by David Wall (Proceedings)