Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v Telstra Limited

In the Federal Court of Australia, Roadshow Films Pty Ltd sought site blocking orders against various telecommunications companies, including Telstra Limited, to prevent copyright infringement of their films and television programs through various online platforms. The applicants claimed that the respondents facilitated and enabled access to these infringing sites by hosting their domain names and providing internet protocol addresses and URLs. The central legal issue in the case was whether the Court should make site blocking orders under section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), which empowers the Court to order internet service providers to disable access to online locations that facilitate copyright infringement. The Court found that the applicants had established a prima facie case of copyright infringement, and that the site blocking orders were necessary to prevent further infringement. The Court held that the benefits of making such orders outweighed any detriment to the respondents and the public.

The Court made comprehensive site blocking and related orders. The respondents were required to disable access to the specified online locations within 15 business days of being served with the orders, and thereafter whenever they became aware of new online locations. The Court outlined various technical means by which the respondents could comply with the orders, such as DNS blocking, IP address blocking, and URL blocking. The applicants were required to establish and maintain a webpage to redirect users attempting to access the blocked sites, informing them that access had been disabled due to copyright infringement. The orders also included provisions for temporary suspension of blocking, variation or discharge of the orders, and procedures for adding new target online locations. The orders were to operate for a period of three years, with the possibility of extension under certain conditions. The respondents were also ordered to pay the applicants' compliance costs associated with DNS blocking.