Can someone help re. this letter re copyright

[Asmadasmax]

My mum has got herself in a spot of bother She has bought a dvd online of something that hasn't been released and then because someone asked for it she listed it online and sold it a couple of times. Unfortunately the company that produced it have now sent her a letter asking she remove it from online, send them all copes she has and that she sign a statement saying she'd potentially pay for reasonable legal costs.

She's scared witless. She's on her own, ill and suffers with extreme anxiety, she's in benefits because she can't work because of her health and just wanted to have a bit of money so she could afford to take her dog to the vets (he has diabetes and another chronic illness, he's quite old and means everything to her).

She's of course going to send the dvd to them and pay them the money she made (£25) but she's scared about the legal costs if she signs their statement because theres no way she could afford that. She's also worried that she'll go to prison because of earning money whilst on benefits.

She can't afford a solicitor and doesn't know what to do.

Does anyone here know whether it's likely they'll take her to court if she pays them the money and sends the dvd back?

I can pm a copy of the letter to anyone who may be able to help.

She knows she shouldn't have but she was desperate.

Thanks very much.

I've attached the letter

To me it sounds like she will have to pay the costs of their solicitor plus her profits to them and they may then refrain from taking her to court?

That she has to provide a witness statement and a statement of truth (I don't know what she should write, will she find a template of them online?)

I can't believe she's been so stupid and didn't tell me what she was doing. I know she's desperate because of her dog and I can't help as a single mum on low wage.

I got one of these years ago for downloading a music album - they can't prove it was your mum using the IP address - can you write back and ask for the evidence they have that your mum committed this?

If they have IP address only then I wouldn't worry

Oh dear! Perhaps she could try CAB? I'm not sure that her reasons for doing this are relevant. It's not the type of thing you do accidentally.

No she listed it with her name and email address. Can they trace it back to her? They don't have her address.

She didn't realise she was doing something illegal because she bought it online herself, so had no idea there would be copyright issues.

I don't know if CAB will be able to help - in my experience their knowledge seems very limited.

Read here

www.gov.uk/government/publications/letters-alleging-online-copyright-infringement/letters-alleging-online-copyright-infringement#why-might-you-have-received-a-letter-alleging-youve-infringed-copyright-online

Be wary that there are bogus letter scams making these allegations too.

Best of luck.

Thanks.

She definitely listed the dvd so it is probably not a scam.

I'll tell her to contact her local CAB. I just wondered if anyone knew how likely they are to take her to court and what the fees are likely to be.

I checked out the legal company, they do exist. The letter is addressed to her but has no full address on it, only the town and her email address. They emailed it to her. I think there's no doubt that it's legitimate.

She didn't realise she was doing something illegal because she bought it online herself, so had no idea there would be copyright issues.

Sorry but I don't think that's likely to be true. I suspect your Mum isn't being honest with you. How many copies did she actually sell? Has she sold anything else on her account that could cause problems?

Even if the original copy had been legitimate your mother would have been breaking copyright law by selling copies. Breach of copyright is a criminal offence although criminal prosecutions are generally reserved for serious offenders turning out pirated material in bulk. The copyright owner can also take action against her in the civil courts.

Assuming the letter is not a scam your mother needs to take proper advice. The copyright holder's legal costs at this stage will be low. You certainly aren't looking at thousands of pounds. The costs will only become significant if this goes to court, in which case your mother would end up paying their costs regardless of whether or not she had signed this agreement.

Thanks.

She wants to pay them straight away, she's not planning on ignoring it. I just wanted to know what sort of costs she's likely to be looking at

It was a self recorded (by the person she bought it from) dvd of something that hasn't been released.

This isn't the same as the letters sent to people who are caught illegally downloading; as she was also distributing - and even if she'd bought a legit
DVD, it'd be illegal for her to sell copies.

Usually these cases result in "costs" of a few thousand; if they don't go to court. It'll depend on the film and the scale. She can contact the legal company and find out expected costs; or she can instruct a solicitor.

NB: It's unlikely to be a few thousand if it's just a few copies; but I'd prepare for the worst just incase. If she was selling it really cheaply to make money for her vets bills; it could be worse than you know yet. If it's just a few and she's compliant; it'll be a few hundred, I expect.

Thanks. She sold just a couple of copies and it was a play that had been shown on tv, recorded and sold to her by someone on ioffer. She has no money so I'm not sure how they'd expect her to pay thousands

She can't afford a solicitor so will go to CAB tomorrow for advice because we can't find out online what her statement of truth and witness statement should look like.

She will of course be compliant, she just wants to get it sorted because it's making her ill worrying about it.

Can anyone help us with a template for a witness statement and a statement of truth? The ones I've found online are so generic she can't use them.