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Netflix and Hollywood Obtain Canadian Site Blocking Order Against Pirate ‘Brand’ Soap
The Federal Court of Canada has issued a new site blocking order requiring major ISPs to block access to Soap2Day domains. The order was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Netflix, Bell, and several major Hollywood studios alleging copyright infringement. The operators of the associated Soap2Day domains must pay millions of Canadian dollars in damages.
Last week, Canada’s original site blocking order against pirate IPTV provider GoldTV expired, after rightsholders decided not to ask for any further extensions.
Overall interest in site blocking hasn’t waned, however. There are still several live-streaming orders in place, protecting sports content including football, hockey, and rugby.
Soap2Day Lawsuit
Meanwhile, Netflix, Bell, and several major Hollywood studios including Disney and Universal, prepared the first blocking order against a traditional pirate streaming site, Soap2Day. That request was granted by Canada’s Federal Court yesterday.
As is typical in Canada, the case started as a lawsuit against the “John Doe” operator of Soap2Day. In a statement of claim filed in May 2023, the rightsholders accused the site of flagrant copyright infringement.
The owner was served via email and this had an immediate impact. Instead of ignoring the matter or fighting back in court, Soap2Day.to and various related domains were shut down by their operator. The lawsuit wasn’t mentioned as a reason, but the timing was evident.
Soap2Day Judgment
With the initial goal already achieved, one might assume that the plaintiffs were satisfied, but that certainly wasn’t the case. While the main Soap2Day threat was gone, sites using the same name remained active.
Soap2Day is a popular pirate ‘brand’ that’s often used to lure visitors. The Fmovies piracy ring, for example, used Soap2dayx.to until it was shut down a few months ago. Others, including Soap2day.day and Soap2day.rs remain active today.
Netflix, Disney and the other rightsholders filed a motion for default judgement against the operators of Soap2day.to, Soap2dayX.to, Soap2day.day, and Soap2day.rs, which was granted yesterday.
Judge Simon Fothergill concludes that the “John Doe” defendants engaged in blatant, notorious and intentional misconduct. As punishment, and to deter further copyright infringement, each defendant was ordered to pay millions of Canadian dollars in damages.
– John Doe 1: $6,080,000 as statutory damages
– John Doe 2: $5,820,000 as statutory damages
– John Doe 3: $5,840,000 as statutory damages
– John Doe 4: $4,520,000 as statutory damages
In addition, the defendants were ordered to pay $1,000,000 as punitive and exemplary damages, as well as $400,000 for which they are held jointly liable.
The Site Blocking Order
These damages are substantial but since the operators remain unidentified, the plaintiffs may be unable to collect. The rightsholders are aware of this so to ensure that their efforts have impact, they also requested a site blocking order.
Justice Fothergill of the Federal Court approved this request yesterday and issued a blocking order similar to that against GoldTV. This effectively means that all major Canadian ISPs must block access to specified Soap2Day domains.
The order specifically lists Soap2day.day and Soap2day.pe, but new domains may be added in the future, as the blocking order broadly targets platforms that use the ‘Soap2Day brand’
If new Soap2Day domains appear online in the future, rightsholders can request an update to the blocklist. This will then be reviewed by the court which can grant the amendment, when appropriate.
The blocking-related costs incurred by ISPs must be paid by the rightsholders and the blocking measures will remain active for two years. After that, Netflix and the other plaintiffs can request an extension.
As far as we know, none of the parties involved has issued a press release on this blocking order. Whether there are plans to target other pirate sites in the future is unknown but since additional blockades are typically more effective, that would make sense.
