Update: iiNet copyright case decision next week

The Federal Court will hand down its decision in the copyright case between ISP iiNet and the film industry next week, according to a report in a major Australian newspaper.

The case was brought against iiNet in an attempt by the film industry to hold service providers responsible for illegal downloads over their networks.

The Australian newspaper said the decision would be handed down next week, citing a Federal Court announcement.

The Federal Court has this afternoon updated its electronic case files, revealing the judgement will be handed down on Thursday February 4th at 9.30am.

A spokesman for the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft said they were "looking forward to a decision".

Representatives of iiNet could not be reached for comment.

The judgement comes much earlier than even the best estimates from lawyers and industry observers.

A decision on the case, for which hearings concluded in late November last year, had not been expected for approximately six months.

You can follow the case in-full here. For a background on the case, click here.