Internet users who downloaded an episode of Friends from a torrent site are getting settlement offers from Warner Bros. Entertainment, asking them to cough up $20 -- or at very least, go somewhere they can watch it cheaply and legally.
In one of these notices, dated April 29 and posted online by TorrentFreak, Warner Bros. stated that while it "appreciates" the user is a Friends fan, "unauthorized uploading and downloading of its copyrighted content is a serious matter."
The notice then points out that an episode from Season 2 of Friends has been downloaded from the user's IP, and offers a link to the automated settlement website of Rightscorp, a company that represents Warner Bros. There, the user can pay $20 per infringement.
According to Warner Bros., the damage "substantially exceeds" just $20, but the company said it is willing to settle low "in the interest of having you stop your infringement of WB content permanently." The studio also directs users to sites where they can download the same episode for $1.99 (or watch for free depending on their cable subscription).
Warner Bros. has sent similar notices before, in 2013, but now it is targeting downloaders of a series that aired 20 years ago.
Copyright infringement notices and settlement offers from major Hollywood studios aren't uncommon, though they're often targeted at service providers, not end users. In April 2015, HBO sent a cease and desist letter to Videology, a Brooklyn bar that let its visitors view Game of Thrones. The company also targeted Periscope users who used the app to watch leaked Game of Thrones episodes, sending takedown notices to anyone who publicly shared these leaks.