Judge Denies RapidShare's Motion to Postpone, Move Hearing

LOS ANGELES — A judge has denied RapidShare’s motion requesting a lawsuit filed by Perfect 10 be postponed and moved to Germany.

This afternoon, the court ruled that the hearing on a preliminary injunction filed by Perfect 10 should remain set for May 12 and heard in San Diego’s U.S. District Court.

“RapidShare didn’t want a U.S. court to have the opportunity to hear the case," Perfect 10 owner Norm Zada told XBIZ. "They wanted the case tried under German law."

Zada filed a preliminary injunction April 12 against RapidShare, a company who Zada says is stealing, copying and selling his copyrighted material.

Zada says RapidShare is a paysite where users can download movies, songs, computer software and full size images.

In response, RapidShare filed a memorandum stating that “the defendants believe they should not be forced to litigate on the merits when the threshold issue of jurisdiction has not yet been determined.”

“I think this judge understand what’s going on and will, in my opinion, ultimately rule against RapidShare in this case,” Zada said.

RapidShare’s response further states, “Perfect 10 has declined to provide RapidShare with the links to files it asserts are among hundreds of millions of user files on RapidShare’s site, which RapidShare would gladly remove if Perfect 10 shared this information with it.”

“It’s not my obligation or up to me to spend time finding those links. That’s not my problem. They need to stop selling what they don’t own,” Zada added.

According to Zada, RapidShare admits to selling the content, but not to copying it, saying the material ended up on its servers, which are located in Germany, through anonymous third parties.

The memorandum says, “RapidShare doesn’t sell Perfect 10 images or for that matter any content. It is a storage site where users can store and share files and view licensed content, including video games and movie trailers from Warner Brothers in Germany.”

“They’re not a storage locker. RapidShare is the greatest infringing paysite of all time. They’re making $80 million a year that belongs to American studios and producers,” Zada says.

Zada says he has lost $60 million fighting the good fight, adding the U.S. government doesn’t help the cause by not offering copyright protection.

“I had to lay off people, and will probably lay off more. My house is up for sale and I’ve had to cut expenses.”

Despite claiming his company is on the verge of bankruptcy, Zada vows he’ll continue to fight copyright infringement “until the bitter end.”