iiTrial costs back before Federal Court

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) will press for a revised ruling on costs when it fronts the full bench of the Federal Court Wednesday in its continuing copyright stoush with ISP iiNet.

It will be AFACT's first time before the full bench since its appeal was ruled unsuccessful in February.

Despite losing the appeal overall, the studios did win significant concessions in their case, particularly a ruling that gave ISPs no absolute protection over the actions of subscribers.

Those concessions provided grounds to potentially test the case in the High Court, as well as seek a revised order on costs in the Federal Court.

"We note that the court will now revisit costs for the primary case and will also hear costs on the appeal given that AFACT's members were successful on many grounds," the federation noted at the time.

In a directions hearing in March, iiNet indicated its costs to date were around $6.5 million. The film industry has never put a figure on its own costs from the primary case and appeal.

The High Court was yet to list a date on when it might hear AFACT's application to escalate the case, although it was understood that it could occur in the August to September timeframe.