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Six men have been acquitted for their part in a highly organized 'copyright-trolling' operation. After two movie companies were offered 20% of the spoils from the scheme, their movies were downloaded from BitTorrent and then seeded to downloaders who were subsequently sued. The acquittals overturn guilty verdicts handed down by a lower court.
![[Image: copyright-fishers.png]](https://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-fishers.png "[Image: copyright-fishers.png]")
When studying law in Taiwan back in 2019, Kevin Lin learned that law firms were doing good business in the anti-piracy space. After he graduated, he aimed to do the same.
Around June 2022, reports emerged that Lin was a suspect in what was described locally as a “copyright cockroach” case.
After teaming up with a like-minded former classmate who happened to be a lawyer, Lin founded Truth Intellectual Property Consulting Co, a company that would soon begin to sue hundreds of people for illegally downloading and sharing movies on BitTorrent. The scenario is not especially unusual but the background certainly is.
Download, Seed, Sue
In order to gather evidence to support the upcoming campaign, Truth Intellectual Property signed a monitoring deal with a technology company. Through that deal, Lin was introduced to lawyer Zheng Yuanxiang, who reportedly drafted the complaints against the alleged downloaders and negotiated the settlements. The difference in this case was the nature of the content the users downloaded.
After obtaining the exclusive rights to several movies from Vie Vision Pictures Co. and Applause Entertainment Ltd, men working for Lin uploaded the movies to BitTorrent and waited for pirates to take the bait.
Unwitting pirates had their IP addresses captured and once identified were targeted with demands for cash settlements. The rightsholders agreed to a 20% cut, with Lin’s operation taking the remaining 80%, part of which covered the costs with the remainder taken as profit.
The End of the Settlement Dream
After launching the operation in August 2021, Lin’s company filed 937 lawsuits for copyright infringement. Just 25 cases resulted in a cash settlement, netting a grand total equivalent to less than US$30,000.
The authorities had received a number of complaints, but it appears that the litigation strategy had also overwhelmed several police departments and prosecutors’ offices.
Lin and the other men were indicted, with the Taipei District Court eventually finding them guilty of engaging in “corporate-style litigation” in violation of the Lawyers Act among other offenses.
Lin received a 10-month prison sentence, commutable to a fine equivalent to US$10,000. His co-defendants, including a company registration manager, two employees, and a legal officer, were also sentenced to prison terms of 6 to 8 months, commutable to fines.
For the crime of handling litigation cases with intent to profit, lawyer Zheng Yuanxiang was also sentenced to prison. All defendants – and the prosecution – appealed the District Court’s verdict.
Taiwan High Court
At the Taiwan High Court, the prosecution argued that Kevin Lin (also known as Lin Yijie), along with the other defendants, had engaged in a scheme in which they intended to profit from copyright infringement.
The prosecution said that the defendants used their legal connections to lure internet users into downloading pirated content with the intent of pressurizing them into settling their dispute.
The defense countered with claims that the prosecution’s case was based on flawed evidence that failed to establish intent. Kevin Lin was simply a mediator between various parties involved in the scheme, the defense argued, noting that he had not directly profited from it. And besides, in similar cases defendants had been found not guilty, the defense added.
All Defendants Acquitted
On September 25, 2025, the Taiwan High Court acquitted all defendants, reversing the verdict of the lower court. The Court agreed that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to link the men to the scheme and criticized the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for an investigation with inconsistent findings.
The Court found that the exclusive licensing deal between Truth Intellectual Property and Vie Vision and Applause Entertainment, wasn’t illegal but did stray close to the line. The Court found no evidence of collusion; legal action was conducted in the Truth company’s name so it wasn’t litigating on behalf of others.
The Court further found that the conditions for offenses under Article 157 of the Criminal Code and Article 127 of the Lawyers Act, which forbids unlicensed lawyers conducting litigation for profit, had not been met. The Court also noted that those who collected the evidence for use in legal action could not be held responsible for the actions of others.
Allegations that the defendants profited from the scheme reportedly failed to establish intent. Rather than a reliance on evidence, the Court found that the prosecution relied on speculation and ultimately failed to meet the burden of proof.
Lin Comments on Social Media
In a post on social media, Lin celebrated the win but avoided any comment on the details. An elusive detail concerns the claim that the defendants uploaded the same content they later sued people for downloading.
The Taipei Times is very specific about how the content was obtained and then seeded. Yet, far as we know, that aspect wasn’t a key part of the case.
![[Image: tarpei-times.png]](https://torrentfreak.com/images/tarpei-times.png "[Image: tarpei-times.png]")
Regardless, Lin seems very pleased with the outcome.
When studying law in Taiwan back in 2019, Kevin Lin learned that law firms were doing good business in the anti-piracy space. After he graduated, he aimed to do the same.
Around June 2022, reports emerged that Lin was a suspect in what was described locally as a “copyright cockroach” case.
After teaming up with a like-minded former classmate who happened to be a lawyer, Lin founded Truth Intellectual Property Consulting Co, a company that would soon begin to sue hundreds of people for illegally downloading and sharing movies on BitTorrent. The scenario is not especially unusual but the background certainly is.
Download, Seed, Sue
In order to gather evidence to support the upcoming campaign, Truth Intellectual Property signed a monitoring deal with a technology company. Through that deal, Lin was introduced to lawyer Zheng Yuanxiang, who reportedly drafted the complaints against the alleged downloaders and negotiated the settlements. The difference in this case was the nature of the content the users downloaded.
After obtaining the exclusive rights to several movies from Vie Vision Pictures Co. and Applause Entertainment Ltd, men working for Lin uploaded the movies to BitTorrent and waited for pirates to take the bait.
Unwitting pirates had their IP addresses captured and once identified were targeted with demands for cash settlements. The rightsholders agreed to a 20% cut, with Lin’s operation taking the remaining 80%, part of which covered the costs with the remainder taken as profit.
The End of the Settlement Dream
After launching the operation in August 2021, Lin’s company filed 937 lawsuits for copyright infringement. Just 25 cases resulted in a cash settlement, netting a grand total equivalent to less than US$30,000.
The authorities had received a number of complaints, but it appears that the litigation strategy had also overwhelmed several police departments and prosecutors’ offices.
Lin and the other men were indicted, with the Taipei District Court eventually finding them guilty of engaging in “corporate-style litigation” in violation of the Lawyers Act among other offenses.
Lin received a 10-month prison sentence, commutable to a fine equivalent to US$10,000. His co-defendants, including a company registration manager, two employees, and a legal officer, were also sentenced to prison terms of 6 to 8 months, commutable to fines.
For the crime of handling litigation cases with intent to profit, lawyer Zheng Yuanxiang was also sentenced to prison. All defendants – and the prosecution – appealed the District Court’s verdict.
Taiwan High Court
At the Taiwan High Court, the prosecution argued that Kevin Lin (also known as Lin Yijie), along with the other defendants, had engaged in a scheme in which they intended to profit from copyright infringement.
The prosecution said that the defendants used their legal connections to lure internet users into downloading pirated content with the intent of pressurizing them into settling their dispute.
The defense countered with claims that the prosecution’s case was based on flawed evidence that failed to establish intent. Kevin Lin was simply a mediator between various parties involved in the scheme, the defense argued, noting that he had not directly profited from it. And besides, in similar cases defendants had been found not guilty, the defense added.
All Defendants Acquitted
On September 25, 2025, the Taiwan High Court acquitted all defendants, reversing the verdict of the lower court. The Court agreed that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to link the men to the scheme and criticized the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for an investigation with inconsistent findings.
The Court found that the exclusive licensing deal between Truth Intellectual Property and Vie Vision and Applause Entertainment, wasn’t illegal but did stray close to the line. The Court found no evidence of collusion; legal action was conducted in the Truth company’s name so it wasn’t litigating on behalf of others.
The Court further found that the conditions for offenses under Article 157 of the Criminal Code and Article 127 of the Lawyers Act, which forbids unlicensed lawyers conducting litigation for profit, had not been met. The Court also noted that those who collected the evidence for use in legal action could not be held responsible for the actions of others.
Allegations that the defendants profited from the scheme reportedly failed to establish intent. Rather than a reliance on evidence, the Court found that the prosecution relied on speculation and ultimately failed to meet the burden of proof.
Lin Comments on Social Media
In a post on social media, Lin celebrated the win but avoided any comment on the details. An elusive detail concerns the claim that the defendants uploaded the same content they later sued people for downloading.
The Taipei Times is very specific about how the content was obtained and then seeded. Yet, far as we know, that aspect wasn’t a key part of the case.
Regardless, Lin seems very pleased with the outcome.