Wednesday, Jun 15, 2011    Text size: 

LAS VEGAS —  Adult studio Corbin Fisher said Wednesday that it has been awarded a $63,000 default judgment against a Canadian BitTorrent user who allegedly shared two of the studio's scenes.

The judge in the case ordered Phillips liable for $30,000 per file shared, as well as a permanent injunction against future theft of content, according to the studio's general counsel, Marc Randazza.

Randazza said that the defendant, Quynn Alan Phillips, who goes by the screen name "qalanalt" on a number of torrent sites, was served with the claim and made fully aware of it.

"In fact, he sent a document to the court complaining about the suit, but once the court allowed the case to move forward, he did not bother to continue participating," Randazza said.

Randazza said that the judgment was significant because it makes it clear that the courts assign a value to adult films beyond what some defendants have claimed.

"We have had a number of defendants and defense attorneys in our cases argue that courts will only award us $750, the statutory minimum, in torrent cases," Randazza said. "Mr. Phillips now knows that this position is without merit — and it should send a message to the defendants in our other torrent cases.

Corbin Fisher has won a number of judgments against illegal file sharers, including notable victories which shut down tube site DudeVu and a $1.75 million judgment against DVD counterfeiter Eric Brown.