A May 19 settlement conference date before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck was scheduled today, with an order for Pink Visual attorneys to provide a "confidential settlement memorandum" one week prior to the hearing.
"[The proposal] should be the realistic settlement range of that party, not just the party's 'opening bid,'" Peck said in the order. "The settlement range in the settlement memorandum will be kept confidential by me and not disclosed to opposing counsel."
Peck ordered both sides, including company officials and their insurance representatives, to be present at the May 19 hearing.
Settlement conferences are often ordered by the court as a preliminary step to holding a trial or offered by case adversaries. Many times, those conferences end up as an impasse.
Officials at Pink Visual declined comment on the matter; XBIZ was unable to reach Brazzers officials Thursday.
Pink Visual maintains that Brazzers' parent company, Montreal-based Mansef Inc., operates a number of tube sites that permit users to upload and download infringing files, maintaining servers in New York.
The sites at issue in Pink Visual's claims include KeezMovies.com, PornHub.com, ExtremeTube.com and Tube8.com, all owned by Mansef and Interhub, whose officers operate both companies as well as one of the best-known adult companies, Brazzers.
Pink Visual's parent company, Ventura Content, claims that Brazzers systematically abuses the 45 Pink Visual-copyrighted videos. They point to Brazzers categorizing the infringing videos and providing the means for user to comment on, rate or virally distribute infringing videos.