LIMASSOL, Cyprus — Adult entertainment conglomerate MindGeek reacted today to MetArt’s copyright and trademark infringement suit waged last week, denying its allegations and calling it "frivolous."
The response by MindGeek charges that MetArt is now focusing on a new business model.
“MindGeek is astonished that MetArt has chosen MindGeek, its long-time content partner, as the next target of its newly adopted business model of filing baseless claims,” MindGeek said in a statement today.
“MindGeek believes that the true purpose of this lawsuit in fact is simply for MetArt to ‘make a quick buck’ and obtain an unjustified payment from MindGeek.”
MindGeek further state that MetArt has ignored in its filing that MindGeek has contractual arrangements with MetArt with respect to its content.
Said Catherine Dunn, MindGeek’s vice president of global communications: “By ignoring the agreements between it and MindGeek, MetArt has launched a wholly unjustified attack on MindGeek."
"We refuse to be intimidated by this shameful action and will vigorously and aggressively enforce our rights, including by bringing counterclaims against MetArt for their actions,” she said.
MetArt last week filed a lawsuit against MindGeek and its newly launched PornHubPremium.com property, claiming copyright and trademark infringement after it allegedly found 100 of its copyrighted videos on the adult tube site.
MetArt, in the suit filed at Miami federal court, said that the site, which launched on Aug. 6, displayed its films over 523 separate URLs.
The suit seeks upwards of $15 million in damages plus attorneys fees as well as a transfer of the PornHubPremium domain name, among other forms of relief.
The complaint also names exec Feras Antoon and former exec Ouissam Yousef as defendants.
PornHubPremium is a membership site that charges $9.99 a month for premium high-def content.
