The suit, filed by Vivid in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the defendants have through its users allowed pirated material to be posted on the site. Vivid’s lawsuit claims copyright infringement, misappropriation of the right of publicity and unfair business practices.
Vivid has identified 30 of its movies allegedly posted unlawfully onto PornoTube.com. The adult entertainment giant is seeking $150,000 per infringed work — the maximum allowed by law — for a total of $4.5 million in damages. The suit also requests a permanent injunction to bar future infringement.
Vivid alleges that AEBN, formally known as Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network, “[has] used technological advancements to willfully infringe copyrights belonging to plaintiff, depriving plaintiff of the lawful rewards that accompany creativity, effort and innovation,” according to a Vivid press release.
The suit contends that the “defendant’s business plan depends on the uploading, posting, display and performance of copyrighted audio-visual works belonging to Vivid and others” and that AEBN “knowingly built a library of infringing works to draw Internet traffic” to the mostly user-generated content site, PornoTube.com.
A noteworthy element of the case has Vivid contending that PornoTube's display of its clips violates federal 2257 record-keeping requirements. Vivid asserts that PornoTube has an unfair competitive advantage because it's not required to maintain 2257 records for all the content on the site.
“This action against PornoTube is groundbreaking,” Vivid attorney Paul Cambria said. “AEBN and PornoTube are not exempt from their responsibility to comply with 2257 rules, and we will demonstrate in court that they are obtaining an unfair business advantage by violating this obligation.
"Vivid should not have to take responsibility for policing PornoTube on a minute-by-minute basis to protect its rights. Vivid has already found dozens of violations of its copyrights, and AEBN needs to know that it cannot continue pilfering Vivid’s products no matter how they might reformat or reshape it. Once they put up any material on their site and fit it into their format, they are no longer just a ‘pass through’ medium — they have become producers or distributors under the law,” he said.
The suit also names WMM, a Nevada-based corporation believed to be operated by PornoTube, and 20 John Does.
Vivid has requested a jury trial to hear its claims.
XBIZ was unable to reach AEBN for comment at press time.
