Motion Picture Association of America Wins $10.5 Million Lawsuit

According to the Hollywood Reporter , Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, Columbia, Fox and Disney are member studios of the MPAA. Together they filed a lawsuit against the websites over several movies including Avengers: Age of Ultron. The MPAA filed copyright and trademark claims against “John Doe” and “XYZ Corporation” defendants and demanded an injunction against even “third parties providing services used in connection with any of the MovieTube Websites,” including website providers and social media platforms.

Numerous tech companies, led by internet giants such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter, objected to the breadth of the injunction. They filed an amicus or “friend of the court” brief accusing the MPAA of trying to resurrect the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

MPAA’s demand for a preliminary injunction was withdrawn and then pursued with vigor when it requested a permanent injunction and $10.5 million in damages. The defendants shut down the websites, but were creating a new MovieTube site.

The New York federal court entered an order permanently enjoining the defendants from infringing on the MPAA’s movies and awarded a default judgment in the amount of $10.5 million. This amount was based on the 140 works that were at issue (which the studios claim is only half of what they claim they’re entitled), with statutory damages in the amount of $150,000 per infringement.

Because the MPAA has not identified who operates the MovieTube sites, collecting on the judgment is going to be difficult. The court order permits the MPAA to continue discovery into “third-party vendors providing services to Defaulting Defendants in connection with the MovieTube Websites,” which means subpoenaing service providers like Google and Twitter for service records.

If you are interested in learning more about trademark and copyright infringement, contact the legal team at The Swenson Law Firm for assistance.

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