About 4700 Australians who illegally downloaded Dallas Buyers Club on the internet over a one-month period in 2014 are likely to be sent letters demanding monetary compensation from the maker of the film.
A Federal Court judge on Tuesday ordered several Australian internet service providers, including iiNet, to hand over the identities of thousands of account holders whose internet connections were allegedly used to share the Hollywood film.
Dallas Buyers Club LLC and Voltage Pictures LLC targeted six Australian telcos - iiNet, Internode, Dodo, Amnet, Adam Internet and Wideband Networks - when they sought personal details associated with more than 4700 IP addresses that were used to share the movie using BitTorrent.
Michael Bradley, the lawyer representing Dallas Buyers Club in the landmark piracy case, says the company is looking for compensation.
"Ultimately for the owner of the film that's what's it's about because they've lost a lot of money," he told ABC on Wednesday.
In the US, where this type of ruling has also happened, legal action was threatened against account holders, claiming they were liable for damages of up to $US150,000 in court unless settlement fees of up to $US7000 were paid.
"That was the US. What happens here is going to be different," Mr Bradley said.
"A decision hasn't been made about that."
He said it the decision will take some months.
Voltage Pictures has indicated it won't go after vulnerable people, including children with autism, the handicapped, welfare recipients and those with mental illnesses.
However, Mr Bradley said it was uncertain how this process would be monitored.
