Could Baiting Infringers Create an Implied License?

TechDirt reports (via TorrentFreak) about a situation in the UK involving copyright owners that may have licensed content to a company with the understanding that the licensee would upload that content to various bit-torrent distribution networks. The licensee would then reportedly hire a law firm to send threatening letters to those who took the bait and downloaded the very torrent files that the licensee had uploaded.

If we take the report as true, then I'm wondering whether those who downloaded the files could argue that, by uploading the files to a public file distribution network, the licensee was impliedly consenting to the downloads that are the focus of the law firm's demand letters.

Seems to me this is kind of like letting your horse out of the barn and then calling the sheriff when you see a stranger in the saddle.

Thanks to Michael Scott for the tweet.