Odex’s court order forcing Pacific Internet to give names of people who have downloaded anime illegally has failed. Judge Ernest Lau ruled that
Judge Ernest Lau said:
Only copyright owners – that is, the studios that made the anime – or an ‘exclusive licensee’ for the anime being downloaded, can take legal action under the Singapore Copyright Act.
Only copyright owners – that is, the studios that made the anime – or an ‘exclusive licensee’ for the anime being downloaded, can take legal action under the Singapore Copyright Act.
Odex is a sub-licensee and had letters from rights owners authorising it to take action on their behalf, but the firm was neither a copyright owner or an ‘exclusive licensee’.
An exclusive licensee has the sole right to distribute a product in a certain market.
By the sounds of it, Odex does not have the right to sue downloaders
Source: The Straits Times
