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Summary: Johan Schluter Law Firm was hired by media groups to manage payments to TV and movie associations but after an investigation, there is an estimated $15 million that was never paid.
The Danish law firm, Johan Schluter is well known for their anti-piracy practice. Over ten years ago when the Danish and international entertainment industry groups decided to take on the piracy of music, movies, and other media in what was called Antipiratgruppen or Anti-Piracy Group, they needed the help of lawyers. Johan Schluter was the top pick.
The law firm set out in 2004 tracking the pirates by creating an anti-piracy tracking firm called DtecNet. They also created a tool for the MPAA that identified and deleted software that share files from users to computers.
The law firm continued to be involved with fighting piracy by continually supporting Antipiratgruppen when they changed their name to RettighedsAlliancen (Rights Alliance). They sold DtechNet in 2010 to U.S.-based company MarkMonitor. They still had their copyright business.
The groups CAB, Filmkopi, and Filmret had hired Johan Schluter to distribute money to underlying rightsholders and movie and TV industry associations by handling the registration, collection, and administration of their rights. The associations hired Deloitte, a U.S. auditing giant, to do an investigation into Johan Schulter’s finances. They found a minimum of $15 million missing that should have been paid to the associations between 2011 and 2015.
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The law firm is owned by three partners, one of which is facing the blame. Susanne Fryland was in charge of the TV and film producer accounts. She was fired Tuesday from the firm and is facing embezzlement, breach of trust, and fraud charges. The other two owners are just hoping that the verified amount the auditors find is less than the initial number of $15 million.
Source: https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-lawfirm-defrauded-rightsholders-out-of-millions-150702/
Photo: altomdata.dk
