$1.275 million judgment against online piracy ring for infringement of 17 Titan titles
By Joanne Cachapero Friday, Apr 11, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — Titan Media has won $1.275 million in damages in a copyright infringement suit against Gilbert Michael Gonzales and 21 additional defendants in a judgment that was handed down yesterday.
“This is yet another victory for not only Titan, but the entire adult industry. The ruling is a huge blow to online piracy blogs,” Titan Media Vice President Keith Webb said.
“You can run and hide but in the end, everything you do online can be traced back to you,” Webb added. “We were able to subpoena ISPs and track the IP address and individual identity of each person on the pirate blog [who was] posting and distributing our films. Once again, the message is clear — if you steal and pirate Titan films, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted.”
The case was filed at the end of September in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It named Gilbert Michael Gonzales and 21 John Doe defendants who were involved in an online piracy ring that utilized free hosting websites, including Blogspot.com, Ning.com and RapidShare.com to infringe on more than 45 of Titan’s movie titles.
At the time, Titan estimated that the ring might be responsible for more than 100,000 illegal downloads of Titan material, including full-length videos, as well as video extras and behind-the scenes footage.
The base statutory damages awarded by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel amounted to $25,000 per title for 17 titles. However, the judge tripled the amount of damages per title, because she found that the infringement was “willful.”
“We are realistic, and we know the chances of collection on this default judgment are slim,” Titan attorney Gill Sperlein told XBIZ. “The judgment is nonetheless important, and its significance should not be understated. Clearly, federal judges are willing to evaluate damages in cases involving adult content the same as they would any other case. This is an important message to adult content owners and pirates alike.” Full article here
8 comments:
And this means no more porn blogs, lol.
Hey - who do I make the check out to? LOL - good luck collecting assholes!
Keith Webb said "blow".
What a load of bullshit. I'm one of the DOES and they got fuck all from my ISP and fuck all from me.Mikey was right when he said they'd claim they "won". TITAN/SHITAN
This is bullshit.
MikeyG can't afford that, firstly, and Titan needs the money less than he does. I feel sorry for the guy.
Besides, there are numerous services out there to share porn just as quickly (torrents, P2P), so making an example out of this guy just sucks.
Fuck Titan.
I can appreciate copyright but Napster is what eventually got CDs to lower their prices so we can actually afford them. Porn should do the same.
Fuck Titan.
TITAN IS A GAY BASHING COMPANY.
THEY HAVE MADE THERE MONEY FROM THE GAY PEOPLE. THEY JUST DON'T GET THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SICK GAY MEN LIVING ALONE AND HAVE NOTHING OR NO ONE AND THE INTERNET IS THERE ONLY OUTLET.
I ALWAYS BOUGHT TITAN MEDIA MOVIES BUT NEVER AGAIN. I WILL NEVER RENT OR BUY THERE MOVIES OR RENT THERE D.V.D'S.
ALL GAY PEOPLE SHOULD BOYCOTT ANYTHING THAT TITAN MEDIA SELLS.
I HAVE HAD TO FIGHT POLICE IN BATH RAIDS
I HAVE BEEN GAY BASHED BY 3 MEN. NOW I MUST HAVE A COMPANY THAT HAS MADE THERE MONEY OFF US THE GAY PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY BASHING US OVER MEDIA THAT THEY THEMSELVES HAVE PUT OUT THERE ON THE WEB.
I WILL NEVER BUY OR RENT ANYTHING AND I HOPE ANY GAY MAN WILL ALSO DO THE SAME. WE HAVE TO STAND FOR SOMETHING THROUGH THIS WALK OF LIFE. TITAN MEDIA HAS RUINED PEOPLES LIVES OVER MONEY.
well titan you have created a very poor publicity campain havent you ? !
Another crooked profiteering company for us to boycott. The judge is as crooked as the company and should be disbarred and jailed. The junk put out by these thieving studios is cheezy garbage compared to normal manly amatuers who film themselves and post it for us decent people to enjoy without cramming "COPYRIGHT!" down everyone's throats.
I hope at least one of these studios gets caught and sued big-time for claiming an amatuer video or part one as theirs.
This copyright greed is the reason I will never buy a commercial movie or album again.
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