Strike 3 Holdings and Malibu Media continue to inundate Federal courts around the country with file-sharing lawsuits against individual, anonymous internet subscribers. In the past few days, Strike 3 Holdings has filed 62 copyright infringement lawsuits in California (29 cases), Colorado (9 cases), Illinois (6 cases), New York (6 cases), Pennsylvania (1 case), and Virginia (11 cases). Malibu Media has also filed 23 additional cases in Michigan (1 case), New Jersey (12 cases), and Texas (8 cases). This has been a record breaking year. So far, Strike 3 Holdings has filed more than 1700 lawsuits this year. Malibu Media is not far behind with more than 1000 cases.
Although different companies, both Strike 3 Holdings and Malibu Media have similar tactics in aggressively pursuing alleged downloaders of their adult films. Strike 3 Holdings owns the Blacked, Tushy, and Vixen brands. Malibu Media owns the X-Art brand. Both Plaintiffs begin by identifying an IP address they claim participated in downloading and sharing their films through Bittorrent networks and then sue the unnamed account holder as a John Doe. As they only have an IP address, they ask the courts to subpoena the defendant’s identity from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) so the defendant can be formally served.
Defendants usually first learn they are being sued when they receive a letter from their ISP that informs them the Plaintiff has subpoenaed their identity. Because federal civil lawsuits are generally public record and easily searchable, many defendants wish to remain anonymous to minimize the suit’s effect on their private and professional lives. If a defendant wishes to remain anonymous, it is vital they retain counsel without delay.
The online nature of the alleged infringement also presents a challenge to defendants wishing to put forth a full legal defense. Defendants often find the litigation to more complicated, protracted, and expensive than a simple case of file-sharing would initially seem.
If you have received a notice in one of these cases, please don’t hesitate to call me immediately at 888.801.8681. If calling after-hours, please leave a message; I do return calls after-hours.
I have years of experience defending file-sharing lawsuits and can help you achieve the best outcome possible. I have defeated several copyright plaintiffs in lawsuits around the U.S.; I also fought Malibu Media in their first trial. I’ve represented over 600 defendants in both settling and litigating file-sharing lawsuits. I’ve written a subpoena defense guide for your information, as well.
I look forward to speaking with you and helping you put this matter behind you. Please don’t hesitate to call. 888.801.8681.
Yours,
Leonard French