If they don’t, studios can demand that Canada’s Federal Court grant a default judgment against the users - which studios can then use to collect damages. The notices state accused people only have 30 days to file a statement of claim in their defence. The lawsuits are civil cases rather than criminal ones and Fraser’s law firm stated accused Canadians should “act quickly or risk a judgement and monetary award against you.” And users found to have illegally downloaded movies to make money could face fines of up to $20,000. People who illegally downloaded material - not for commercial use - could be forced to pay damages of up to $5,000, according to Canada's Copyright Modernization Act. Ignoring it won’t make it go away, he said, warning that people who do could pay a high price. He stressed this wasn’t a hoax and that people receiving a piece of registered mail from a Hollywood studio were actually being sued for copyright infringement.

If you get one of these, it can't be ignored,” privacy lawyer and partner at McInnes Cooper David T.S.

“A torrent of lawsuits are descending on Canadians accused of online file sharing. Over the past year, Hollywood TV and movie studios have been suing “hundreds of everyday” Canadians for allegedly sharing and downloading copyrighted material, an Atlantic-based law firm says in a press release.

Wild hearts can't be broken torrent