LAS VEGAS — Gay adult studio Corbin Fisher yesterday filed a $34.8 million copyright infringement against Oron and its operators, claiming the file locker site is cognizant of its role as a swap meet for pirated porn.
The suit alleges at least 232 infringements of Corbin Fisher works were found on the site, which is ranked No. 935 for traffic, according to Alexa.
"Oron is not a legitimate file storage company and has no such characteristics," the suit says. "Its website is a pornographic website which showcases images of an erotic nature to users of any age.
"Oron is cognizant of its role as the vehicle in which infringers act in concert with one another to copy and distribute huge amounts of infringing material."
Named in the suit is parent company FF Magnat Ltd. and owner Maxim Bochenko, who also goes by the name Roman Romanov, as well as 500 John Does.
Bochenko, the suit says, is the "guiding force behind Oron.com and is accused of being equally responsible for any and all offenses by Oron.com."
Corbin Fisher, calling Oron a "foreign defendant" in the suit, noted personal jurisdiction is proper because most of the posting of the stolen content took place in the U.S. and that the majority of the stolen content distributed by Oron originates from the U.S.
Corbin Fisher further noted Oron's numerous ties to activity in the U.S., including that it utilizes domain name registrars in Virginia and Pennsylvania and does business with an Arizona-based payment processor. Bochenko also is a a resident of Jacksonville, Fla., and Golden, Colo.
"Oron has availed itself of the privilege of doing business in the U.S., and it is properly subject to jurisdiction in any federal court," the suit said.
Corbin Fisher goes on to say in the suit that the file-sharing site only recently registered its DMCA agent and can't claim its immune from infringement claims as a web host.
"Normally, a web hosting company takes advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the DMCA 17 U.S.C. § 512, and would not become a defendant in this cause of action," the suit said. "During the period of most of the complained of infringements, Oron did not have a registered DMCA agent. It is not entitled to the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions for the complained of infringements. Oron registered their DMCA agent on June 15, 2011."
Corbin Fisher seeks an injunction over the defendants restraining the them from further acts, impoundment of infringing content, and damages, as well as attorneys fees.
The suit also asks the court to freeze the company's assets, including its domain name and funds in accounts at PayPal and CCBill, and to appoint a receiver to take possession of defendants' assets.
"This remedy is appropriate to ensure that the Defendants are not able to finish out their bad
faith fraudulent transfer scheme," the suit said. "The defendants have engaged in extreme conduct, involving millions of dollars in damages.
"If the Copyright Act is to mean anything, it should mean that such schemes do not provide a source of profit for the cyber criminals who engage in them. The defendants see the writing on the wall: The defendants infringed upon copyrighted works for profit and have been caught. The elements of copyright infringement have been shown, and no affirmative defenses are likely to prevail."
Adult industry attorney, Marc Randazza, Corbin Fisher's counsel in the case, did not immediately respond to an XBIZ request for comment. XBIZ was unable to reach Bochenko by post time.
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