Falcon/Raging Stallion Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Oron

SAN FRANCISCO — Gay adult studios Falcon and Raging Stallion won several key rulings on motions yesterday at federal court in their copyright infringement suit against defunct file-locker site Oron.com.

Falcon and Raging Stallion's parent company, DataTech Enterprises, last month sued the file-locker site for unspecified damages after it found at least 400 titles on the site that were involved in more than 40,000 separate acts of infringement.

After an hour-and-a-half proceeding yesterday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that he would grant a preliminary injunction to halt infringement and allow early discovery proceedings against Oron.

"Judge Breyer gave thoughtful consideration to all the issues and we believe he made the correct determination," industry attorney Gill Sperlein, who represents Falcon and Raging Stallion, told XBIZ. "Breyer's granting of the preliminary injunction shows he believes plaintiff has a substantial likelihood of success in proving it claims.

"The court will consider limiting the preliminary injunction if the defendants can make a showing that the assets currently frozen are in excess of the amounts likely to be recoverable by plaintiff in equitable relief. Given the vast amount of piracy of plaintiff's works this is very unlikely," he said.

Sperlein told the court in earlier briefs that early discovery is necessary in the case because information currently held by third parties, in the form of server logs, will disappear long before the parties engage in formal discovery.

Sperlein also said that without the early discovery Falcon and Raging Stallion wouldn't "be able to link the activity associated with the 'mainroman' screenname and email addresses to the individuals at the center of Oron.com, i.e., the people responsible for the day to day operation of this criminal enterprise," Sperlein said.

"Contrary to defendant’s statements, plaintiff has alleged facts that Roman Romanov is not only a beneficial owner, but that he (i.e. the person using that identity and emails linked to it) engaged in direct operation of Oron.com and maintained linking websites that indexed material on Oron.com."

Romanov is named in the suit, as well as defendants Oron.com, parent company FF Magnat Ltd. and Stanislav Davidoglov.

Breyer in his rulings Tuesday also granted an extention to the temporary restraining order in place.  Falcon and Raging Stallion last month asked the court to freeze U.S. assets in its PayPal, CCBill, AlertPay accounts, as well as other U.S. financial institution accounts.

Falcon's and Raging Stallion's suit comes on the heels of Corbin Fisher's legal battle over similar infringement charges against Oron.

After a $550,000 settlement was recently reached between the Corbin Fisher and Oron, the file locker's attorneys appealed unsuccessfully to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal.

But Oron attorneys have made more appeals over numerous aspects of the case and the 9th Circuit this week scheduled motions and hearings all the way through January 2013.

Another gay adult studio, Flava Works, also has filed copyright infringement claims against Oron.

View Datatech brief

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

Justices Alito, Thomas Invoke Victorian-Era Morality Law, Raising Censorship Concerns

Several national publications reported this week on widespread concern among Free Speech advocates after U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas repeatedly invoked during a hearing the infamous segregation-era law the Comstock Act, which was the cornerstone of U.S. censorship of sexual material from the 1870s until the 1970s.

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

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.

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.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay its recent decision upholding the law, because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s new age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

Show More