Bermuda Cablevision is confident it will finally settle a multimillion dollar lawsuit this year which eight of American's biggest motion picture companies have brought against the company for alleged piracy.

The companies, including Twentieth Century Fox, Time Warner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Disney Enterprises, sued Cablevision in the American courts last year for alleged non-payment of millions of dollars for the use of unlicensed programmes.

The writ in a federal court in New York alleges that the $23 million, which Cablevision has allegedly put aside to settle the dispute, is a "fraction" of what is owed.

According to the writ, Cablevision has been pirating the services since 1988 by showing programmes such as HBO, Showtime and the Movie Channel without a licence.

A report in the InsideBermuda financial newsletter said the case had been discontinued on April 16, but would be restored to the court's active docket if it was not resolved by June 4 this year.

Cablevision lawyer Alan Dunch told The Royal Gazette on Thursday that the court case was "in abeyance" while discussions about resolving the dispute continue.

When asked if he thought the lawsuit will be settled this year, Mr. Dunch said: "I do".

Mr. Dunch refused to say any more other than: "The position is that discussions and negotiations with a view to resolving the litigation are ongoing and while they are ongoing, the litigation is in abeyance."

Cablevision acknowledges it has to pay for the services and has set aside money to settle the bill.

The company says that when it set up in 1986, it invested money because it had a contract then with the Motion Picture Exporters' Association of America (MPEAA) that gave Cablevision the rights for the programmes.

However, Cablevision say MPEAA breached the agreement by not putting into place the licensing arrangements which had been agreed.

"Without this, there is no mechanism whereby we can pay them, though we have repeatedly attempted to do so," said Cablevision in a statement.

"If the issue were as simple as just paying up what is due, Cablevision would have settled this matter a long time ago. However, until Bermuda is recognised as a legitimate market, and the proper licensing agreements are put into place, it is impossible to know what precise amounts are due, and to whom.

"It should be noted that this is not just an issue in Bermuda. Interestingly, MPEAA and the programme suppliers have not taken legal action against the other cable companies and DSS suppliers (and even local TV broadcasters) throughout the Caribbean region who have been helping themselves to this programming for years without making any provision to pay for it."