Netflix, Disney, Roadshow Cinemas lead push for Telstra and other telcos to band internet piracy

Telcos will be offered $50 to remove 52 websites that offer access to pirated movies and TV shows as several streaming giants launch a second round of court action.

Netflix is seeking to stop access to Stranger Things among a series of websites targeted by an alliance of publishing companies. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP)

An alliance of film and TV companies have launched a second round of court action to stamp out illegal internet piracy, claiming telcos must ban 52 websites which allow Australians to breach copyright.

Telstra, Optus, Vocus, TPG, Vodafone, and Aussie Broadband along with 51 other telcos have all been named in the Federal Court case, demanding they disable access to the sites within 15 days and redirect anyone seeking to access them to a website warning them off.

Roadshow Cinemas, Disney, Paramount, Colombia, Universal, Netflix, and Warner Bros, have all signed on to the case, and claim the sites allowed Australians to make copies, or transmit the films and TV shows “without licence or authorisation”.

“The owners or operators of the Target Online Locations demonstrate a disregard for copyright generally, in that they provide easy access to the copyright works of others,” the publishers claim.

“To the Applicants’ knowledge, there is not likely to be an impact on any person or class of persons by reason of the grant of the injunction sought in the Originating application, except the owners or operators of the Target Online Locations, and users who wish to use the Target Online Locations to infringe copyright.”

Court documents noted these sites have allowed Australians to illegally access such films as Mulan, and Jurassic World, as well as episodes of the Netflix hit Stranger Things.

The publishers claimed shutting down the sites “is in the public interest” and offered in their court claim to pay telco $50 per domain they block, to cover their costs.

The latest case spearheaded by Roadshow Cinemas offers a revealing insight into the breadth of websites targeted by the publishers.

The websites include sites offering movies dubbed in the Tamil and Hindi languages.

The case was the second time publishers have launched legal action to shut down pirate streaming sites.

The Federal Court made orders in December last year to force Telstra, Optus, Vocus, Vodafone, and TPG, among 48 other internet service providers, to ban 63 websites.

That court win came after a three year push by an alliance of foreign-owned television stations and filmmakers to prevent their content being accessed without payment.

That earlier case was also led by Roadshow Cinemas, joined by Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros, and Netflix — as well as Chinese media companies Television Broadcasts and TVB.