The number of copyright lawsuits in the US over online file-sharing have dropped significantly this year, according to data compiled by Lex Machina. Data released by the legal research company shows there were 249 file-sharing lawsuits filed in the second quarter of 2016, compared to 517 cases the previous year.

Anti-piracy copyright lawsuits began increasing in number dramatically around 2012 and last year constituted the majority of all copyright cases nationally. The number of copyright disputes unrelated to file-sharing have held steady for the last five years, as shown in the graph above.

Lex Machina defines file-sharing lawsuits as cases having "John Doe or anonymous defendants" and allegations related to file-sharing technology, typically BitTorrent.

Some of the most litigious copyright holders have run into major roadblocks in recent years. Of the two lawyers who created "copyright trolling" firm Prenda Law, one has agreed to suspend his law license, and John Steele is facing allegations that could also lead to disbarment.

More recently, porn studio Malibu Media has slowed its filing of new cases and is embroiled in a monetary dispute with the lawyer who headed up its campaign. Until recently, Malibu was the number one filer of copyright lawsuits in the US.

A few players that make more mainstream movies continue to file such lawsuits. Last year, lawsuits were filed over Dallas Buyers Club and The Cobbler.

The same Lex Machina litigation report shows that patent litigation experienced a significant uptick in Q2 of this year, with 1,282 patent cases filed. However, this year's numbers so far are well under the 2015 average of 1,456 patent cases being filed per quarter.