Manwin Entitled to $100K Default Judgment, U.S. Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge has granted Manwin's motion for default judgment against Georgia resident Nicholas Bulgin, who was accused of cybersquatting and extorting the adult entertainment conglomerate.

U.S. District Judge George Wu, however, said that Manwin is only entitled to $100,000 in statutory damages under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

Manwin had been seeking $400,000 in its original demand but bumped it up after its first amended complaint.

Wu also granted Manwin's motions to restrain Bulgin from creating domain names, Twitter accounts or Blogspot pages that use the company's trademarks.

Wu also said he'd grant an order transferring Manwin.net, Manwin.co, ManwinSucks.com, Brazzers.us and Manwin.us to the Luxembourg-based company that has offices in Montreal and Los Angeles.

But Wu halved court costs and attorneys fees, limiting Manwin attorneys to only $5,600 because the damage claim was capped at $100,000.

And Wu rejected Manwin's motion to restrain Bulgin from engaging in "future defamatory conduct."

Bulgin, who last year was served at his home in Hampton, Ga., and has been communicative with opposing counsel as well as XBIZ for news reports, has failed to respond to the court over the suit.

One of the key components of Manwin's case was personal jurisdiction over Bulgin. Wu had asked Manwin to present an argument why jurisdiction would not be improper.

Manwin in previous motions alleged that Bulgin "purposefully directed" activities in California, where it has its Burbank, Calif., headquarters with 150 full-time employees and 137 part-time employees.

Wu said that the court considered factors used in evaluating jurisdiction over Bulgin and that they weighed in favor of Manwin.

"[D]espite communicating with plaintiffs counsel both before and after the commencement of this suit, defendant Bulgin has not formally responded to any of the documents filed in this action," Wu said in his ruling made this week. "He thus fails to present a compelling case as to why the exercise of jurisdiction would be unreasonable."

Looking at the details of the case, Wu said that he agreed with Manwin that Bulgin's conduct is causing injury to Manwin's goodwill and reputation.

"The court also concludes that money damages are unlikely to deter  Bulgin from his ongoing campaign of cybersquatting and defamation, particularly in light of his failure to appear in this litigation," Wu ruled. "A balancing of the hardships also favors Manwin: Bulgin will not be harmed by the proposed injunction because an injunction would merely require [defendant] to comply with the law. By contrast, without an injunction, Manwin's trademarks and reputation will continue to be harmed."

For similar reasons, Wu also said he would order Bulgin to remove existing defamatory statements identified in the complaint, accusing Manwin Managing Partner Fabian Thylmann and other employees of criminal conduct, including "trafficking in child pornography."

Wu, however, put a roadblock to Manwin's request for a permanent injunction with respect to Bulgin's future or continued dissemination or republication of defamatory speech against the company.

According to Manwin, Bulgin mounted an "escalating  campaign of cybersquatting, harassment, and defamation with the goal of extorting Manwin to pay him large sums of money," later trying to interfere in its licensing deal for Playboy Plus Entertainment.

Manwin, in a brief filed last month, said that "first, Bulgin targeted one of Manwin’s most important business partners, Playboy Enterprises International. During negotiations, Manwin said, Bulgin, using the aka "Jim Jagen" reached out to Playboy and accused Manwin of using "stolen property."

"Bulgin went on to write, '[a]s for your joint venture with Manwin, I suggest you seriously look at who you do business with because it can bring great harm to your own company name.' "

The case against Bulgin was initiated in April 2012 after Manwin officials took notice of Manwin.net, which included defamatory pieces relative to child porn on the site.

Manwin said that Bulgin registered the domain name Manwin.net, using the name Gill Manwinder to create a scheme to cause havoc at the company. The company also said that Bulgin used the alias "RadishDreams" in correspondence.

Besides the Playboy instance, Manwin said that Bulgin interfered in a U.S. trademark application after petitioning trademark examiners to cancel their application.

Manwinder, the suit said, claimed that Manwin his family's name. Manwinder claimed he was a businessman from the U.K. who was in the process of setting up various businesses using family name Manwinder.  

In another instance, Bulgin and accomplices are accused of registering Manwin.co, using the name Yi Weng, which purported to be a Chinese woman who maintains a blog to discuss issues of spirituality and charity.

Manwin attorneys also say that the company had been victim to a threat, allegedly tied to Bulgin and others.

The threat, emailed from an encrypted web-based Hushmail account, was directed at Fabian Thylmann, the company's managing partner, and made threats of cyberattacks on Manwin.

Manwin all along in its suit filed at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has charged that Bulgin "engaged in an elaborate scam to force Manwin to purchase the Manwin domains."

Manwin said that Bulgin sent dozens of emails to company employees threatening to dilute the Manwin trademark and divert its traffic if it did not purchase the domains.

Manwin later made an agreement for some of the domains, but after the deal was brokered Bulgin reneged on it and claimed he wouldn't transfer them, the company's lawsuit said.

Manwin attorneys filed a notice of lodging in the case after Wu's ruling, narrowing the process in finalizing the judgment to within 10 days.

Bulgin, upon reviewing Wu's ruling, told XBIZ that he plans to "fight back."

"I never intended to fight this lawsuit because I was confident that the court would have seen all the lies that was being thrown at them," Bulgin said. "I guess at the end of the day, those with a lot of money will always win if we don't fight back. I look forward to doing just that."

View ruling on Manwin's motion for default

Related:  

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 Scalia 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