Mass. man battles back against massive movie copyright suit

An Acton man yesterday sued a DC law firm that is trying to go after thousands of people it claims pirated copies of a 2008 movie.

In his class-action lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, Dimitriy Shirokov charges the Washington law firm of Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver is simply trying to make money by shaking down more than 4,500 people in its own legal actions related to the movie Far Cry.

Dunlap, Grubb has demanded ISPs across the country hand over access records on customers it claims downloaded illegal copies of the movie; some ISPs have fought back. Earlier this week, a federal judge in Washington, DC, gave the law firm until Dec. 6 to release the names of the people it's suing on behalf of moviemakers.

Shirokov charges the law firm has sent out thousands of fraudulent demand letters, telling people they can avoid litigation by paying up to $2,500 each:

With only thirteen attorneys on staff, DGW has issued a volume of demand letters that far surpasses its ability to litigate this volume of claims case by case.

The suit seeks at least $5 million for the time and money it alleges people dunned by Dunlap, Grubb has lost.

Complete complaint.