What should I do if I receive a Notice of Claimed Copyright Infringement?

What is a notice of claimed copyright infringement?

A notice of claimed copyright infringement (“Notice”) is intended to notify you that the owner of a copyrighted work believes you have infringed their copyright, such as by illegally uploading or downloading a movie from the Internet without their permission. Under Canada’s Copyright Act, Canada has a “Notice-Notice” regime regarding copyright infringement. Under this regime, a copyright owner who believes someone has infringed their copyright may send a Notice to that person’s Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), like Oricom. When an ISP receives a Notice, it is legally required to forward it to the customer’s account from which the infringement allegedly occurred.

Why did I receive a Notice?

You received a Notice because a copyright owner believes someone used an Oricom Internet account to infringe their copyright in an online work and sent a Notice to Oricom. Oricom forwarded the Notice to you because it identified your account as the one used to commit the alleged infringement, and forwarded the Notice to the email address associated with your account.

How was my account identified?

An ISP automatically assigns an Internet Protocol address (“IP Address”) to a customer’s account whenever they go online. Copyright owners are able to identify the IP address used when their copyright was allegedly infringed, and must include it in their Notice, along with the date and time of the alleged infringement. Oricom is required by law to identify from their records the customer account it assigned that IP address to at the specified date and time and to forward the Notice to the account holder’s email address.

I didn’t do what is claimed in the notice.

Someone else may have used your account to allegedly infringe copyright. If you have tenants or other individuals that use your Internet services you should check with them. You received the Notice because you are the account holder according to Oricom’s records. If you have concerns about the security of your account, we recommend you take steps to secure it, such as changing your password regularly.

If you believe your account was wrongly identified, you should contact the copyright owner at the contact information set out in the Notice.

Why is Oricom coming after me for copyright infringement?

Oricom is not pursuing you for copyright infringement. It is merely forwarding the Notice it received from a copyright owner to your email address as it is required to do by law.

The Notice you received did not originate with Oricom, and does not impact your Oricom service. You should be aware however that you must abide by your Oricom Terms of Service, including Oricom’s Responsible Use Policy. To understand your obligations, see the Oricom Terms of Service which can be found here.

Am I being sued?

The Notice is not a lawsuit. If you have questions about a possible lawsuit, you should contact the copyright owner at the contact information set out in the Notice. If you would like legal advice, your provincial or territorial law society or bar association has a lawyer referral service who you can contact if you need help finding a lawyer.

Who should I contact to find out more about the notice I received?

You should contact the copyright owner at the contact information in the Notice.

Can Oricom help me with the notice?

Oricom does not have any information about the details of the Notice you may have received and cannot give you advice about how to deal with the Notice. Oricom’s involvement is limiting to forwarding the Notice to you in compliance with its legal obligation. If you have questions about the specific Notice you received and what it means for you, you should contact the copyright owner at the contact information in the Notice. If you would like legal advice, your provincial or territorial law society or bar association has a lawyer referral service who you can contact if you need help finding a lawyer.

Are you providing my personal information to the copyright owner? How is Oricom protecting my privacy?

Oricom does not provide any of your personal information to the sender of the Notice. Oricom’s only legal obligation when it receives a Notice is to identify the relevant customer account from its records and forward the Notice there. Oricom only discloses customer information when it is legally compelled to do so in response to civil court orders or judicially authorized warrants or production orders. The Notice does not require Oricom to disclose your customer information, and Oricom does not do so. For more information on how Oricom protects your personal information see Oricom’s Privacy Policy here.