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Music and movie industries’ MegaUpload lawsuits postponed yet again
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 5 October 2020
Hey everybody, it’s time for the twice-yearly confirmation that the civil lawsuits filed by the music and movie industries in the US courts against the long-defunct MegaUpload company have been postponed again for another six months.
The Recording Industry Association Of America and the Motion Picture Association Of America both sued MegaUpload for damages after the criminal case against the old MegaUpload business and its top team, including founder Kim Dotcom, had begun.
Dotcom et al are accused of copyright crimes and face charges in the American courts. However, the US authorities have been trying to extradite Dotcom and his former colleagues, from New Zealand to the US, ever since they shut down MegaUpload all the way back in 2011.
Those extradition proceedings continue to slowly go through the motions. And while the courts have generally ruled that Dotcom can be extradited, not all routes of appeal have as yet been exhausted.
Given that the civil lawsuits filed by the music and movie industries could interfere with the criminal case, it was agreed years ago that the criminal proceedings should happen first and therefore the civil litigation should be paused while that happens. Although it’s possible that legal reps for the music and movie companies didn’t realise quite how long that pause would last.
Nevertheless, those legal reps have not opposed recent extensions of the big pause, including the most recent decision to keep their lawsuits on hold until at least April next year. So, I guess, see you next April when the courts push everything back another six months.
