Hard Drive Productions, Inc. Sues 21 Indiana John Does for Copyright Infringement of Adult Entertainment Video Via BitTorrent

New Albany, IN – A Copyright lawyer for Hard Drive Productions, Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona filed a copyright infringement suit alleging 21 unnamed John Does who reside in Indiana infringed the copyrighted video work entitled AMATEUR ALLURE – ERIN which has been registered by the US Copyright Office.

Hard Drive Productions is an adult entertainment company that produced the video at issue. The complaint alleges that the 21 John Does have unlawfully reproduced and/or distributed the copyrighted video using the BitTorrent “distribution protocol”. The complaint states that Hard Drive has the Internet Protocol address (“IP address”) of these 21 individuals and will learn their identities during discovery. Hard Drive has made claims of copyright infringement and civil conspiracy. The complaint seeks an order impounding all copies of the video, damages, and litigation expenses.

This case has been assigned to Judge Sarah Evans Barkerand Magistrate Judge William G. Hussmann in the Southern District of Indiana, and assigned Case No. 4:11-cv-00059-SEB-WGH.

Practice Tip: As has been reported elsewhere, it appears the adult entertainment industry has adopted the copyright litigation strategy that the music industry used to halt online music sharing. Specifically, file sharing using the BitTorrent program is being targeted for litigation. According to one report, as of November 2010, over 16,000 anonymous BitTorrent users had been sued by the adult entertainment industry for illegally sharing copyrighted materials. Hard Drive Productions filed a similar lawsuit against 300 Illinois John Does late last year. Unlike the music industry copyright litigation, these individuals are likely to be greatly embarrassed when their identities are unveiled in the discovery phase of litigation.

Complaint

Further Information about the case is as follows:

Filed: May 20, 2011 as 4:2011cv00059 Updated: May 23, 2011 02:33:31

Plaintiff: HARD DRIVE PRODUCTIONS, INC.

Defendant: DOES 1 – 21

Presiding Judge: Sarah Evans Barker

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit > Indiana > Southern District Court