Odex had "no right of civil action" against illegal
downloaders
By Loh Chee Kong, TODAY | Posted: 25 August 2007 0158 hrs
SINGAPORE : Anime distributor Odex had "no right of civil action"
against illegal downloaders.
This is because it was just a sub-licensee and not the copyright
owner or exclusive licensee for most of the anime titles sold
here.
This is the rationale behind the court's surprise dismissal of
Odex's bid to get Pacific Internet (PacNet) to disclose its
customers' identities.
The judge's 13-page grounds of decision was released on August
24.
District Judge Earnest Lau also noted that Odex was also in no
position to initiate criminal prosecution.
On August 23, the judge ordered the company to pay legal costs of
more than $7,000.
The judge also expressed unease over the hasty manner in which Odex
tried to go after some 1,000 PacNet subscribers.
In particular, he was not convinced of the investigation method it
used to uncover the IP addresses and pinpoint the alleged
wrongdoers.
Industry observers had expected the court to rule in Odex's
favour.
This is especially after it had successfully forced two other
Internet service providers, StarHub and SingNet, to hand over the
data of those suspected of illegal downloading.
In its letters of demand, Odex is asking for $3,000 to $5,000
compensation and also hinted of criminal prosecution should the
subscriber refuse to pay up.
But the judge said under the Copyright Act, "only the copyright
owner and the statutory exclusive licensee
have the right to take
action against copyright infringers".
He added that Odex appeared to be the exclusive licensee for just
one title, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed.
Odex said it would be appealing against the judgement. - CNA
/ls
Dunnoe good or bad news, later those jap companies bypass odex and
come straight to us 
