Significant win for a coalition of Internet Service Providers in the Federal Court of Appeal

On July 17, 2025, a coalition of Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) represented by McCarthy Tétrault had a significant win in the Federal Court of Appeal against the appellant Voltage Pictures LLC. The appellant tried to certify a reverse class action for alleged copyright infringement on BitTorrent, but the Federal Court rejected their plan, because they wanted to use the notice-and-notice regime to notify class members. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal and said they couldn’t reapply. The Copyright Act’s notice-and-notice regime lets copyright owners send infringement notices through ISPs, but not notices demanding personal info or payment. The ISPs intervened, showing the burden this would place on them. The court agreed, ruling that the notice-and-notice regime is for deterrence, not litigation, and ISPs’ role is limited to delivering proper deterrence notices.

McCarthy Tétrault, LLP advised the ISP coalition with a team led by Steve Mason, Barry Sookman, and Richard Lizius (Intellectual Property).