A US federal court has recently handed down a damages award in favor of a porn movie studio. According to the court ruling, a defendant from Michigan will have to pay $40,500 for downloading "X-Art" movies through BitTorrent networks.
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Malibu Media, the California-based company behind the X-Artporn movies, is recognized as one of the most active copyright trolls in the country. In 2014 alone the company has filed about 300 separate cases against one or many defendants. Malibu Media just scours the web for users sharing their movies via BitTorrent, collects the associated IP-addresses, and then asks courts to find the pirates.
It should be noted that most of those cases end up being settled for a few thousand dollars each. However, sometimes defendants fail to respond, and Malibu Media receives the opportunity to obtain a default judgment.This happened to L. Sagala from Michigan, who was found guilty of willful copyright violation by a federal court.
Malibu Media managed to prove that the IP-address registered to Sagala was used to illegally share some of its movies. As such, the company asked the court to award $40,500 in statutory damages it says it is an insignificant amount, as the real damages are even higher. Its lawyers claimed that even despite the fact of Sagalas willful copyright violation, Malibu Media only seeks an award of $40,500 in statutory damages a reasonable amount when considering that the companys actual damages far exceed that sum.
The attorneys representing the company explained to the court that the defendant materially aided each of the other participants in the BitTorrent swarm of infringers. As such, actual damages of the movie studio are the lost sales of its material to those thousands of infringers. Overall, those lost sales far exceed $40,500, they claimed.
As a result, the court granted Malibu Medias damages request, along with $1,650 for attorneys fees and costs. As the defendant failed to defend himself, the ruling didnt come as a surprise, but still the relatively high damages award is seen not that often.
The industry observers admit that the movie studio has scored several similar default victories within the past few months and is not going to stop. Coupled with numerous settlements, which are worth up to thousands of dollars each, Malibu Media and its lawyers are estimated to have made millions of dollars.
The companys legal action against alleged BitTorrent infringers initially started two years ago, when Malibu Media followed other adult entertainment companies. Since then, it has filed almost 2,000 lawsuits.
Malibu Media, the California-based company behind the X-Artporn movies, is recognized as one of the most active copyright trolls in the country. In 2014 alone the company has filed about 300 separate cases against one or many defendants. Malibu Media just scours the web for users sharing their movies via BitTorrent, collects the associated IP-addresses, and then asks courts to find the pirates.
It should be noted that most of those cases end up being settled for a few thousand dollars each. However, sometimes defendants fail to respond, and Malibu Media receives the opportunity to obtain a default judgment.This happened to L. Sagala from Michigan, who was found guilty of willful copyright violation by a federal court.
Malibu Media managed to prove that the IP-address registered to Sagala was used to illegally share some of its movies. As such, the company asked the court to award $40,500 in statutory damages it says it is an insignificant amount, as the real damages are even higher. Its lawyers claimed that even despite the fact of Sagalas willful copyright violation, Malibu Media only seeks an award of $40,500 in statutory damages a reasonable amount when considering that the companys actual damages far exceed that sum.
The attorneys representing the company explained to the court that the defendant materially aided each of the other participants in the BitTorrent swarm of infringers. As such, actual damages of the movie studio are the lost sales of its material to those thousands of infringers. Overall, those lost sales far exceed $40,500, they claimed.
As a result, the court granted Malibu Medias damages request, along with $1,650 for attorneys fees and costs. As the defendant failed to defend himself, the ruling didnt come as a surprise, but still the relatively high damages award is seen not that often.
The industry observers admit that the movie studio has scored several similar default victories within the past few months and is not going to stop. Coupled with numerous settlements, which are worth up to thousands of dollars each, Malibu Media and its lawyers are estimated to have made millions of dollars.
The companys legal action against alleged BitTorrent infringers initially started two years ago, when Malibu Media followed other adult entertainment companies. Since then, it has filed almost 2,000 lawsuits.