Disney Enterprises Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios Productions LLLP, Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. Hotfile Corporation, Anton Titov, and Does 1 through 10
Published: Dec. 14, 2013 | Result Date: Dec. 3, 2013 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 1:11-cv-20427-KMW Bench Decision – $80,000,000
Court
USDC Florida
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Karen R. Thorland
(Motion Picture Association of America Inc.)
Defendant
Deepak Gupta
(Gupta Wessler PLLC)
Roderick M. Thompson
(JAMS)
Facts
Disney Enterprises Inc. and other movie studios filed a suit against Hotfile Corp. and Anton Titov, seeking a permanent injunction. Hotfile was a website and service that allowed users to download software and electronic data, including copyrighted works, off the Internet.
Contentions
PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The studios claimed that Hotfile actively encouraged users to engage in piracy by uploading copyrighted materials. Hotfile would pay its users based on how many other people downloaded those files, regardless of whether they were copyrighted and creating an incentive for the users to upload copyrighted works.
DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Hotfile argued that it was protected under the safe harbor rule of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Result
Plaintiffs were awarded $80 million and the court granted a permanent injunction against Hotfile. The injunction required Hotfile to shut down its service entirely. Hotfile's counterclaim was dismissed.
Other Information
On Dec. 4, Hotfile shutdown all operations.
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