Fox Offloads Suit Against YouTubers

Fox will not pursue civil action against YouTube and Live Digital users who uploaded episodes of “24” prior to their broadcast premieres.

In an e-mail to internetnews.com, a 20th Century Fox Television spokesperson said that Fox has referred the case to law enforcement authorities, temporarily putting on hold plans to pursue civil action.

The news comes three weeks after Google’s YouTube and a company called Live Digital turned over information to identify users who uploaded pirated copies of Fox Television’s “24” and “The Simpsons” onto their video platforms.

Then, a 20th Century Fox Television spokesperson said that Google and Live Digital complied with subpoenas issued by the U.S. District Court in Northern California and disclosed to Fox the identities of two individuals who illegally uploaded entire episodes of “24” prior to its broadcast and DVD release.

According to copies of the subpoena applications, Fox found this season’s first four episodes of “24” on LiveDigital and YouTube on Jan. 8, a full week before they were to air for the first time in the U.S.

Fox said a YouTube user who goes by the handle “ECOTtotal” uploaded 12 episodes of the popular animated show “The Simpsons.” The LiveDigital user’s display name was “Jorge Romero.”

“We intend to use the information provided to pursue all available legal remedies against those who infringed our copyrights,” 20th Century Fox Television Vice President of Media Relations Chris Alexander told internetnews.com at the time of Google and Live Digital’s compliance.

The U.S. District Court first instructed Google and Live Digital to produce identifying information in identical subpoenas, pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, issued Jan. 24 after L.A. law firm Loeb & Loeb filed them for Fox on Jan. 18.

Today, Alexander told internetnews.com that Fox reserves its right to pursue all available remedies against those who have infringed copyrights in the future.