U.S. Judge Blocks Porn BitTorrent Suits Filed in W. Va.

MARTINSBURG, Va. — A federal judge has quashed thousands of subpoenas that were requested in seven porn BitTorrent suits, ruling that the cases improperly join mass defendants together.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey, in each of the orders, threw out all of the defendants with the exception of one John Doe for each claim. As a result, 5,462 unnamed defendants have been pared from suits filed by Combat Zone, Elegant Angel, Third World Media and West Coast Productions.

Bailey, in his ruling, said that the cases reeked of misjoinder, finding that it is an " undeniable fact that each defendant will also likely have a different defense."

In each of the cases, Bailey said that he would sever all Doe defendants except the first Doe of each suit. He also said that because so many ISPs were identified with each suit, "[allegations making] the propriety of joinder even more tenuous."

Bailey also said that if plaintiffs' counsel want to proceed they can do so by filing fees for each of the amended complaints, which would be assigned separate civil action numbers, but only if the defendants are located in West Virginia, where the cases were filed.

In the seven cases, Time Warner Cable moved to quash subpoenas seeking the identities of accused filed sharers.

Kenneth Ford of the Adult Copyright Co., which filed the suits, did not immediately respond to XBIZ for comment.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed amicus briefs in the cases, lauded the judge's ruling, calling it a "big victory in the fight against copyright trolls."

The EFF said that the studios in the seven suits were "abusing the law in an attempt to pressure settlements."

"In these cases — as in many others across the country — the owners of the adult movies filed mass lawsuits based on single counts of copyright infringement stemming from the downloading of a pornographic film, and improperly lumped hundreds of defendants together regardless of where the IP addresses indicate the defendants live," the EFF said in a statement.

"The motivation behind these cases appears to be to leverage the risk of embarrassment associated with pornography to coerce settlement payments despite serious problems with the underlying claims."

The West Virginia order comes on the heels of a ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia earlier this month that dismissed hundreds of individuals from across the country named in the U.S. Copyright Group's campaign due to lack of personal jurisdiction in Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

Pineapple Support Appoints Kasey Kei as Brand Ambassador

Pineapple Support has appointed veteran performer and content creator Kasey Kei as its latest brand ambassador.

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

Eva Maxim, Katrina Colt Headline 'Cumming to LA' From Cherry Kiss

Eva Maxim and Katrina Colt star with Vince Karter in 2021 XBIZ Europas Female Performer of the Year Cherry Kiss' "Cumming to L.A.," from Evil Angel.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still pursue antitrust claims in the future.

Skylar Snow Headlines 'Infidelity 4' From Sweet Sinner

Skylar Snow toplines "Infidelity 4," the latest release from Mile High Media studio brand Sweet Sinner.

Serenity Cox Stars in 'Enjoy It' From MILFY

Serenity Cox stars with Alberto Blanco in "Enjoy It," from Vixen Media Group studio imprint MILFY.

Melissa Stratton Stars in Finale of Wicked's 'So Extra'

Melissa Stratton and Robby Apples star in the final scene from Wicked Pictures' "So Extra."

BiPhoria Drops Jim Powers' 'Saying GoodBi'

BiPhoria has released director Jim Powers' "Saying GoodBi."

Show More