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Digital Legal
RapidShare wins appeal in Atari copyright case
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 10 January 2011
Online file distribution service RapidShare has won another copyright case in the German courts in which it was accused of doing too little to stop its file-sharing network from being used to distribute infringing content.
As previously reported, the use of file distribution services like RapidShare to move unlicensed content around the internet is a growing concern in the music, movie, publishing and software industries, and RapidShare seems to have become a particular target for litigation. Most cases have been filed in the German courts, with RapidShare itself being based in Switzerland.
German court rulings have been a little inconsistent in deciding whether or not RapidShare is doing enough to stop its service from being used to distribute unlicensed content. Some have said the tech firm is obliged under copyright law to introduce stricter filters to stop unlicensed content being distributed, while others have ruled RapidShare’s current anti-piracy measures – which many content owners would argue are minimal – are sufficient. In the latest case a first instance court said the former while an appeal court has said the latter.
This one is actually a gaming case. Atari sued RapidShare over the distribution of its ‘Alone In The Dark’ games on the Swiss firm’s network. The primary copyright infringers, of course, were the individuals who uploaded the gaming software to the RapidShare system, but Atari argued there was a case for contributory infringement against the web firm as well because of its failure to stop the illegal distribution of the game franchise via its servers.
A lower court in Dusseldorf sided with the gaming company, ruling that RapidShare had to do much more to filter out Atari’s content from its networks in order to avoid liability for copyright infringement. But RapidShare appealed and, according to a statement from the web company issued last week, it has won that appeal. The web firm said in a statement: “The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf acknowledged RapidShare’s efforts against the distribution of material that is protected by copyright and deemed the additional measures required by Atari to be unreasonable or pointless”.
RapidShare’s lawyer Daniel Raimer told reporters: “The ruling demonstrates once again that RapidShare is operating a fully legal range and has taken measures against the misuse of its service which go beyond the level that is legally required. We are confident that copyright holders will gradually come to accept this conclusion”.
Atari is yet to respond. It remains to be seen whether this case sets any precedents in other copyright challenges against RapidShare, including ongoing disputes between them and German collecting society GEMA.
