Attorneys from both sides will meet in U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin's chambers on Oct. 7. Schendlin, who signed a discontinuance order, said that counsel from either side can apply to restore the case by Oct. 4.
"The parties having notified the court that they have reached a resolution of this action, it is hereby ordered that the above-captioned action (Ventura Content vs. Mansef Inc.) be, and the same hereby is, discontinued with prejudice but without costs," Schendlin said in the order.
Neither party has confirmed the judge's order and both have declined to comment on the current status of the case.
In the suit, Ventura Content maintains Montreal-based Mansef Inc. permitted users to upload and download infringing 45 Pink Visual-copyrighted videos seen on company tube sites KeezMovies.com, PornHub.com, ExtremeTube.com and Tube8.com.
Ventura Content’s complaint, filed at U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that the defendants are not only aware of infringing content being uploaded to their sites, but that they “actively engage in, promote and induce this infringement.”
“[T]he emergence of these tube sites operated by defendants and others threatens not just [Pink Visual], but the entire adult entertainment industry,” Ventura Content said in its original complaint.
Mansef, meanwhile, said Ventura Content, never showed definitive ownership with respect to the copyright registrations, 22 of which are compilations and don't satisfy the requirements of copyright law under civil-infringement actions.
Further, Mansef attorneys told a federal judge that the company has no control over the source of the content that users post on websites and that it complied with Ventura Content's request to take down videos on eight separate occasions within 24 hours of receiving those notices.
Litigation between the parties ramped up after February's action by Ventura Content was filed, with Mansef responding with it's own civil federal suit.
In a second suit, which was waged by Mansef and still on-going, Pink Visual's parent company and its Denali Holdings unit were sued for copyright infringement from the alleged use of Brazzers' trademark.
Mansef said the defendants have purchased from Internet search engines such as Google keywords containing various permutations of the word Brazzers, knowing that Brazzers is the plaintiff’s well-known brand and with deliberate intent to harm plaintiffs.
In addition to copyright infringement, Mansef also claims trademark infringement and unfair competition.
XBIZ will add additional details and commentary to this story as it becomes available.
