In the fight against Copyright Trolls and their unethical practices, there are a growing amount of information out there to help the John Does. One area I haven’t seen too much current information on what settlement letters (and other correspondence) the Trolls are currently sending out. If you know of any links to or have copies of these documents, please forward them to me. I think it is really important to put these out so people not directly impacted by the Trolls can see their methods. Trolls like John Steele try to convey to the general public that they are the good guys trying to protect the rights of copyright owners. By placing these documents, emails, and voicemails on the Web, we can show their true nature and the greed that drives them.
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Paul Lesko Settlement letter for reFX Audio Software. April 2013 – $4K
Duffy Law Group Settlement Letter. Original letter is dated 18 Apr 13. This is for Arte de Oaxaca v. Stacey Mullen case, 2012-L-9036. Case was dismissed on 18 Mar 13.
Nov 2012 Prenda Settlement Letter. Steele/Duffy decided to mention the 1.5 Million default judgment and provide a link to a Torrentfreak article. Thanks guys! You make this fun for us at times.
Prenda Robo Call – Mentions the “Informal Discovery” documents they are going to send out.
Mark Lutz message - “Our client was generous enough to extend their settlement offer…” Blah Blah Blah. Sounds like teacher from the Charlie Brown TV specials.
Prenda Robo Calls - Examples at Fightcopyrighttolls.com
AZ Doe Sends Prenda a reply, Feb 2012 Doe_RE_AZ Thanks SJD for posting this. This Doe isn’t taking @#$! from the Trolls.
Copyright Enforcement Group (CEG) settlement/DMCA email, June 2012 CEG_Settlement_DMCA_email - This is an email first sent to the ISP (before any legal cases is opened) - they forward it to the ISP subscriber. It tells the ISP subscriber to access the settlement Web site. Movie - ”Church Of Bootyism 2.” For this New Sensations Inc., movie, the settlement fee was $200.
Copyright Law Group settlement email, April 2012 CLG_SettlementEmail_00350(MD)
DMCA Notice of Action Email to a Comcast subscriber TD_Notice1 The DMCA notice was sent to Comcast less than 24 hours after the activity was recorded.
Keith Lipscomb Settlement Email & Agreement KL_settlementE KL_Settle_Agree Troll henchmen – Serena Duncan (818) 332-1291 & Laura Elena Jimenez Velis, LVelis@LEBFIRM.COM
Copyright Law Group Settlement Letter CLG_Settlement_Ltr_01833
Voice-mails from Mark Lutz
Mark Lutz Remix “Rock It!“
John Steele letter -57230736-Settlement-Letter
Prenda Law Inc. letter – Looks like the same John Steele letter – Prenda_Ltr
Prenda Law Inc. Letter – Lightspeed Hacking case – Prenda_Lightspeed-Letter
Smegma Law Inc. Parody Letter – Smegma_Ltr ;)
Smegma Law Inc. Parody Letter #2 - Parody_Ltr2 ;)
K-Beech telephone calls – Glen Powers calls from an 818 area code with a settlement demand of $3400.
K-Beech Settlement text from a Doe - Text was cut/paste from the agreement and emailed – K-Beech(AZ)_SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
Gill Sperlein letter - letter
OK, here is a cut and paste from a John Doe dealing with Patrick Collins trying to get money. I will try to obtain the actual email and attach it to the Blog. There are more details to following concerning the harassment that came with this settlement agreement. The name of the John Doe and the date has been removed.
DieTrollDie
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THIS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is entered into as of the XX day of XXXXXXXXXXX 2011 (“Effective Date”), by and between Patrick Collins, Inc., a California corporation, (“Owner”) and XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX, an individual; (the “Subscriber”).
RECITALS
A. The Subscriber’s Internet Service Provider identified the Subscriber as being the owner of an 1P address that Owner’s investigators identified as having been used to upload and download a copy of Owner’s copyrighted movie entitled Bootylicious Girls (the “Work”).
B. The parties desire to enter into this Agreement and avoid litigation.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing recitals, and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties enter into the following agreement.
AGREEMENT
1. Settlement Money. Subscriber shall pay Owner $2,500.00 (the “Settlement Money”).
2. Confidentiality — Non Admission. The terms of this Agreement shall be kept confidential. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of any legal action or proceeding or asserted requirement under applicable law or government regulations requesting or demanding disclosure of this Agreement or the terms hereof, the recipient shall forthwith notify the other party in writing of such request so that the other party may seek an appropriate protective order or take other protective measures. If, in the absence of a protective order, the recipient believes it is compelled to disclose this Agreement or the terms hereof, the recipient may disclose this information without liability. This Agreement is the result of a compromise and shall not be construed as an admission by the Parties of any liability, wrongdoing, or responsibility on their part or on the part of their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, attorneys, officers, directors or employees. Indeed, the parties expressly deny any such liability, wrongdoing or responsibility.
3. Releases.
(a) Effective upon receipt by Owner of the full amount of the Settlement Money, Owner shall thereupon release, acquit, satisfy and forever discharge the Subscriber and his, her or its officers, agents, shareholders, subsidiaries, affiliates, insurers, assigns and other representatives of and from all, and all manner of all charges, claims, actions, rights, demands, debts, obligations, damages or accountings of whatever nature, in law or in equity, based upon any actual, potential or attempted infringement of Owner’s exclusive rights to the Work occurring, if at all, on or prior to the Effective Date. For the avoidance of doubt, this Agreement does not release the Subscriber from any liability the Subscriber may have for any infringement of Owner’s rights to the Work occurring at any time after the Effective Date or any infringement occurring at anytime of Owner’s rights in any other copyright protected work other than the Work. Should Subscriber fail to pay the full amount of the Settlement Money in a timely manner then each party acknowledges Owner has expressly reserved the right to proceed against Subscriber in a copyright infringement suit asserting infringement prior to the Effective Date of the Work through which Owner seeks damages in excess of the balance then due for the Settlement Money.
(b) The Subscriber hereby releases, acquits, satisfies and forever discharges Owner and its officers, agents, shareholders, subsidiaries, affiliates, insurers, assigns and other representatives of and from all, and all manner of all charges, claims, actions, rights, demands, debts, obligations, damages or accountings of whatever nature, in law or in equity, based upon any events, claims, actions or inactions that occurred prior to the Effective Date.
4. Independent Counsel. Each party acknowledges that it has received independent legal advice from its counsel, or has had the opportunity to seek advice from counsel, with respect to the facts and this Agreement.
5. Legal Fees and Costs. Each party shall be responsible for paying its respective legal expenses and costs incurred in connection herewith and no moneys will be exchanged except as otherwise provided for herein. Should it become necessary for Owner to institute a legal action to collect any portion of the Settlement Money, or to recover upon a worthless check, Owner shall be entitled to recover from Subscriber Owner’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs associated with any such collection effort.
6. Binding Effect. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and to their respective successors and legal representatives.
7. Nonwaiver. No provision of this Agreement shall be adjudged waived unless any such waiver is signed by the party against whom the waiver is asserted. The waiver by any party of a breach of any provision of this Agreement shall not operate or be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach.
8. Severability. If any provision or application of this Agreement shall be held invalid or unenforceable then any such provision shall be deemed severed from this Agreement and the remaining provisions and applications of this Agreement shall not be affected, but rather shall remain valid and enforceable.
9. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement and supersedes any and all other understandings and agreements between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and no representation, statement or promise not contained herein shall be binding on either party. This Agreement may be modified only by a written amendment duly signed by each party.
11. Execution in Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts each of which shall be deemed an original and each of which when combined with the other shall constitute one and the same instrument.
12. Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of all parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, related companies, defendants, franchisees, successors and assigns of each of the parties hereto.
13. Jointly Drafted. The parties to this Agreement have cooperated in the drafting and preparation of this Agreement. Therefore, this Agreement shall not be construed against either party on the basis that the party was the drafter.
14. Recitals. The recitals are made a part hereof
15. Authority. Each of the undersigned signatories hereby represents and warrants that he or she has the authority to bind the entity on whose behalf he or she is signing this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have set forth their hands below. PATRICK COLLINS, INC. (Owner)
By:
Printe Lipscomb
Title: Attorney/Authorized Agent
XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX (Subscriber)
By:
Printed:
Title:
Question?, They have my Name and Phone (they got it from my isp, my isp denies ever giving it out, plus I never got any letter from my isp), all I have been getting are phone calls (of note from different states), they leave a message about going forward and that they have not heard from me, is their next step to send me one of these letters?
Also wanted to thank you for your excellent work and website.
John,
I have heard of some John Does that also didn’t get any notification from their ISP. Do you have the case number or any details on the case – date of alleged infringement OR IP address they claim is yours? Some information is needed. IF you feel up to it this is what to do next time they call. Warning – DO NOT admit anything or talk details/specific about you, your family, your assets, etc. You only want some information from them. – Write down WHO is calling (Full name, Company, telephone #, etc.); Is it a lawyer, collection agency, etc.; what case are they talking about – name and case #; Tell them to also send the information to an email address (set up a Gmail or Yahoo account just for this – no real name/personal info – before you call). If you don’t want to ask them questions – just tell them to send everything to the email address. What you want to get is the case number so you can look up the case in PACER. You should be able to compare the list of IP addresses in the complaint to your IP address. You can also ask the ISP in reference to the case, if and when they released your information. If the IP address is not your (please confirm with the ISP for the date/time of the alleged infringement), then send the Troll an email stating the IP is not your per the ISP. AGAIN – DO NOT discuss YOU or anything about your system, network, family, job, assets, etc. It isn’t relevant and the Troll will try to use it against you! If you are not comfortable with doing this, just ignore the calls and letters from the Trolls. DO NOT ignore any OFFICIAL court documents (doubt they will ever show up). If the Trolls have made a mistake with identifying you, PLEASE tell me so I can get the word out. The Trolls like to claim (or imply) they don’t make mistakes, especially their methods and software to collect this information. WRONG! Please email me at doerayme2011@hotmail.com with any details that shouldn’t be in an open blog/forum. Thanks
DieTrollDie
You could also be like me and if you have nothing to hide then just wait until they name you in your district. I know that I didn’t download any of the material in question and I’ve never had bittorrent programs on any of my computers at any time. So I hope they waste their time and resources trying to come after me. I’ll just represent myself and cooperate until it’s determined that someone either guessed my password or hacked my network in order to gain access to my connection. My boss even agreed to let me use my sick days to defend myself in district court. But I’m sure once these trolls see that I own zero assets and don’t have much in the way of wages to garnish then they will move on to the next easy target.
Hi, my friend is involved in a mass lawsuit, and I want to know if he do decide to settle, would he have to pay with his credit card/ debit? Or anyone can pay on his behalf cause he currently have no credit card or debit. So my question is does the settlement have to be payed by the defendant or anyone can pay on his behalf?( he isn’t thinking about settling at this moment but would like to have an second option if worse come to worse, hiring an attorney might cost too much for him at this moment)
I’m not really sure, but I would believe the Trolls have set up their payment site the same as other online sites. As long as the payment if good, they probably would care who it came from. Hell, they don’t care if the ISP subscriber actually did it, they just want the settlement money.
DietrollDie
If you pay the settlement offer ($200 in my case) – are you finished? I paid the $200 just wanting this to go away
By U.S. Mail with a copy via Email
February 06, 2012
To:
Case Management ID: xxxxxxxxxxx Page 1 of 2
Re: Allegation of Copyright Infringement under U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.), and offer to
resolve the matter through settlement
Discovery Obtained in Case Name: Digital Sin, Inc. v. DOES 1-208
Case No.: 11-CV-00583-RH-WCS, United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Title of Infringed Motion Picture: My Little Panties 2
File Name: My.Little.Panties.2
Hash: f144ffdb4d167a2dc23a5fcbe7ca5c8e331fffd4
File Size: 1,468,164,096 bytes ISP: Cox Communications
Doe No.: xx Case Management ID: xxxxxxxx
Timestamp: xx/xx/2011 12:03:45 PM EDT Protocol: BitTorrent
IP Address: xx.xxx.xxx.xx Port: 12555
Dear xxxxxxxxx:
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REFERRED THIS MATTER TO AN ATTORNEY, PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO THAT
ATTORNEY. YOU SHOULD CONSIDER DISCUSSING THIS MATTER WITH YOUR OWN ATTORNEY.
We represent the owner of the copyright in the motion picture that is identified above. It appears that motion picture was
downloaded from the Internet without legal authorization. Discovery was authorized by the United States federal district
court in the above-identified case relating to the identities of the subscribers whose Internet accounts were allegedly used to
download from and/or make available on the Internet unauthorized copies of the above-named motion picture in violation of
the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.). You were identified as one of those subscribers. The Complaint in this
case can be viewed online at http://www(.)copyright-complaints.com/11-CV-00583-RH-WCS.pdf
The U.S. Copyright Act provides for: “(1) … an award of statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action … in a
sum of not more than $30,000 as the court considers just. … (2) In a case where … that infringement was committed
willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000. …” 17
U.S.C. § 504(c). The law also authorizes costs, attorney fees, and a permanent injunction.
On behalf of Plaintiff, we will formally name you as a defendant (i.e., as an alleged infringer of Plaintiff’s copyright in the
above-named motion picture) in the above-identified case or in a subsequent case. However, in the interest of resolving this
matter without further court litigation, we are hereby proposing a settlement to you:
Case Management ID: 7841906 Page 2 of 2
To settle this matter now, our client will accept a settlement on the following terms:
Settlement Offer: $2,500.00
Expiration of this Offer: xxxxxxxx xx, 2012 at 4:00pm EST (Close of Business)
Settlement Method: Payment with Check, Cashier’s Check/Money Order. We recommend Cashier’s Check
or Money Order to resolve the matter expeditiously.
Otherwise, we are instructed to enforce Plaintiff’s copyright with the understanding that you do not intend to resolve this
matter without a lawsuit.
Settlement payment in the form of a check or money order should be made payable to “Transnational Law Group, LLC,”
with Case Management ID: xxxxxxxxxxx written on the remittance/advice line of the check or money order. The payment,
along with your signature on the Liability Release Agreement (see attached document) should be sent to this address:
Transnational Law Group, LLC
429 Lenox Avenue, Suite 5C13
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Note: You may use Express Mail or Priority Mail (use a tracking option such as “delivery confirmation”) so that you have a
tracking number.
In the meantime, please do NOT delete any files relating to the above-identified motion picture from any of your computers
unless and until Plaintiff’s claim against you is resolved by settlement or otherwise. If you do, in addition to damages, we will
seek sanctions against you for spoliation (i.e., destruction or alteration) of evidence.
With respect to the Liability Release Agreement, read it carefully. We have accommodated the reasonable interests of
accused infringers such as yourself. Once the Liability Release Agreement signed by you has been received by us and the
money represented by your check or money order has actually been received in our attorney-client trust account, we will
return to you the attached Liability Release Agreement counter-signed by me on behalf of Plaintiff, along with a Settlement
Date and Release Security Code. Shortly thereafter, to the extent that a case is active with the specific IP Address and
Timestamp shown above, a dismissal of you, identified by that IP address and timestamp, from the case will be filed with the
Court and sent to you as well.
Again, you should consider consulting a lawyer in connection with this matter.
We look forward to resolving this case with you according to the terms set forth in the Liability Release Agreement.
Sincerely,
Terik Hashmi, JD, LLM (OH, FL/ND)
Case Management ID: xxxxxxxxxx Digital Sin, Inc. v. DOES 1-208, 11-CV-00583-RH-WCS
Doe 199, Page 1 of 2
LIABILITY RELEASE AGREEMENT
Digital Sin, Inc. v. DOES 1-208, 11-CV-00583-RH-WCS
United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
This Liability Release Agreement is effective ONLY after:
The Settlement Date and Release Security Code have been inserted below by
RELEASOR’s attorney and RELEASOR’s attorney has signed the Liability Release.
Settlement Date:
[To be inserted by RELEASOR's attorney]
Case Management ID:
xxxxxxxxxxx
Title of Work:
My Little Panties 2
Infringement IP Address:
xx.xxx.xxx.xx
RELEASOR:
Digital Sin, Inc.
21345 Lassen Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311
Source & Timestamp [U.S. Eastern Time]:
BitTorrent – xx/xx/2011 12:03:45 PM EDT
RELEASEE DOE NO.: Doe xx
Settlement Amount:
$2,500.00
RELEASEE:
Release Security Code:
[To be inserted by RELEASOR's attorney]
Notes:
(1) The Release Security Code will be inserted after your payment and signature below are received.
(2) At that time, the Liability Release Agreement will be counter-signed by Plaintiff’s attorney and sent to you.
(3) Anyone presenting a fake Release Security Code will be prosecuted under the law.
1. The signature of RELEASOR’s attorney following this Paragraph 1 signifies the agreement of RELEASOR to
all of the following terms and conditions. The signature will be on the copy of this first page returned to RELEASEE after
RELEASEE’s payment and signed Liability Release Agreement have been fully received by RELEASOR’s attorney.
Date: ________________________ _______[To be signed by RELEASOR's attorney]_______
Month, Day, Year Terik Hashmi, JD, LLM (OH, FL/ND), TRANSNATIONAL LAW GROUP, LLC, 429 Lenox
Avenue, Suite 5C13, Miami Beach, FL 33139
for RELEASOR/Plaintiff Digital Sin, Inc.
2. This Liability Release Agreement (hereinafter “Agreement”) pertains to a disputed claim and does not
constitute an admission of liability by any of the parties to this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, RELEASEE and
RELEASOR agree as follows:
3. The above-identified RELEASEE represents and warrants to RELEASOR that RELEASEE has made diligent
efforts to identify and, if found, to remove any and all copies of the above-titled work from all of RELEASEE’s computers, and to
the extent any other copies may have existed in other media RELEASEE’s possession, RELEASEE has destroyed all other copies
of the work prior to the Settlement Date written above, except for any copies lawfully obtained from RELEASOR.
4. RELEASEE releases RELEASOR from and against all claims, causes of actions, lawsuits, damages and
demands whatsoever, specifically arising from, relating to, or in connection with RELEASOR’s prosecution of the above-identified
case.
5. In reliance on and in exchange for the representations and warranties and release by RELEASEE, and in
consideration of the settlement amount set out above received by RELEASOR from RELEASEE on the Settlement Date,
RELEASOR hereby releases and discharges the RELEASEE, and RELEASEE’s heirs and successors, from and against all
claims, causes of actions, lawsuits, damages and demands whatsoever, specifically arising from, relating to, or in connection with
RELEASEE’s actions in connection with RELEASEE’s alleged infringement prior to the Settlement Date of the copyright in the
above-titled work on the computer associated with the IP Address and Timestamp listed above, and/or on computers within the
same specific household associated with the IP Address and Timestamp listed above. In this regard, the term “RELEASEE”
includes any person who had used a computer in such household to the extent, and only to the extent, that the use of such
computer was in such household. This Agreement applies to no other claims, causes of action, lawsuits, damages and demands
that RELEASOR may have against RELEASEE (e.g., for any infringement of the copyright in another work or for subsequent
infringement of the same work) which, if existing, shall survive this Agreement. This Agreement does not apply to any infringement
by any other “Doe” defendant in the above-identified case. If the above-identified case has not otherwise been dismissed with
respect to RELEASEE, dismissal with prejudice will be filed in the above-identified case identifying the RELEASEE by the “Doe”
number and IP Address and Timestamp listed above.
Case Management ID: xxxxxxxx Digital Sin, Inc. v. DOES 1-208, 11-CV-00583-RH-WCS
Doe xx, Page 2 of 2
6. Confidentiality: Except to the extent necessary to enforce the terms of this Agreement, the parties shall
maintain the terms of this Agreement confidential, including the real name and address of the RELEASEE. It is understood and
agreed that the fact that settlement has been reached with the party identified by the “Doe” number and/or IP Address and
Timestamp listed above is not confidential.
7. RELEASEE acknowledges that he or she has had the opportunity to seek the advice of independent
counsel of his or her own choice regarding this Agreement.
8. This Agreement constitutes the complete statement of the terms and conditions of the agreement between the
parties, and supersedes and merges all prior proposals, understandings and all other agreements, oral and written, between the
parties relating to the subject of this Liability Release. Any and all other written or oral agreements existing between the parties
hereto regarding such transaction are expressly cancelled. This Agreement cannot be modified or otherwise changed except by
an instrument in writing duly signed by the parties hereto. This Agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with the law of the
State of California. In the event of a dispute arising out of or related to this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be awarded his or
her reasonable attorney’s fees by a court of competent jurisdiction.
This Release is signed by RELEASEE.
Date: ________________________ ________________________________________________
Month, Day,
RELEASEE/Defendant Doe xx
RELEASEE’s preferred email address: ________________________________________________
RELEASEE’s Settlement Checklist:
Date above and sign above
Provide preferred email address above (finalized Liability Release Agreement will be emailed to this address)
Make check or money order in the amount of $2,500.00 payable to “Transnational Law Group, LLC”
Mail payment and BOTH pages of the Liability Release Agreement to:
Transnational Law Group, LLC, 429 Lenox Avenue, Suite 5C13, Miami Beach, FL 33139 (You may use Express Mail
or Priority Mail so that you have a tracking number. Both will be received at 429 Lenox Avenue, Suite 5C13, Miami
Beach, FL 33139.)
1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
DIGITAL SIN, INC. )
21345 Lassen Street )
Chatsworth, CA 91311 )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-583
)
DOES 1 – 208 )
)
Defendants. )
COMPLAINT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Plaintiff Digital Sin, Inc. (also referred to as Digital Sin or “Plaintiff”) for its Complaint
against Defendants Doe 1 through Doe 208 (collectively referred to as “Defendants”), alleges as
set forth below.
NATURE OF THE CLAIM, JURISDICTION AND VENUE
1. This is an action for copyright infringement under the United States Copyright
Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 etc. This Court has jurisdiction under 17 US.C. §101 et seq., 28 US.C. §
1331 (federal question), and 28 US.C. § 1338(a) (copyright).
2. Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) and/or 28 U.S.C. §
1400(a). Although the true identity of each Defendant is unknown to the Plaintiff at this time, on
information and belief, each Defendant may be found in this District and/or a substantial part of
the alleged events occurred and/or have a significant effect within this District.
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3. On information and belief, personal jurisdiction in this District is proper because
each Defendant, without consent or permission of Plaintiff as the exclusive rights owner,
intentionally and willfully distributed, and offered to distribute over the Internet, copyrighted
works for which Plaintiff has exclusive rights. In addition, each Defendant contracted with an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) found in this District to provide each Defendant with access to
the Internet. Therefore, venue in this Court is proper in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)
and 1400(a).
4. To ensure that venue and jurisdiction are proper, Plaintiff, through its agents and
representatives, has undertaken efforts to only identify alleged infringers who are within or near
the geographic location of the Court. See attached Declaration of Jon Nicolini, Exhibit B.
JOINDER
5. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 20(a)(2), the Defendants have been properly joined, as
set forth in detail below and in Exhibit B, because Plaintiff alleges that all Defendants have
traded (uploaded and downloaded) the exact same file of the copyrighted works in related
transactions through torrent software. The Defendants were identified through the use of forensic
software. Plaintiff, through its agents and representatives, has taken steps to confirm that all
Defendants have in fact engaged in a series of related transactions or occurrences. All
Defendants identified in Exhibit A (i) have traded exactly the same file of the copyrighted work
as shown by the identical hash mark; (ii) have traded (simultaneously uploaded and downloaded)
the exact same file as is the nature of torrent software; and (iii) the alleged events occurred
within a limited period of time. See attached Declaration of Jon Nicolini, Exhibit B.
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GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
6. Plaintiff Digital Sin, Inc., is a corporation duly formed and existing under the laws
of California, and has a principal place of business at 21345 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, CA
91311.
7. The true names of Defendants are unknown to the Plaintiff at this time. Each
Defendant is known to Plaintiff only by the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address assigned to that
Defendant by his, her or its Internet Service Provider on the date and at the time at which the
infringing activity of each Defendant was observed. The IP address of each Defendant, together
with the date and time at which his, her or its infringing activity was observed and the hash value
of the file, is included on Exhibit A which is attached hereto. The technology used to identify
each Defendant is explained in Exhibit B. On information and belief, Plaintiff states that
information obtained in discovery will lead to the identification of each Defendants’ true names
and addresses and will permit Plaintiff to amend this Complaint to state the same.
8. The Motion Picture “My Little Panties: #2” (the “Motion Picture”) was produced
by Digital Sin and released on November 4, 2010 . The copyright was registered in February
2011. See information about the Motion Picture on Plaintiff’s website http://www.TLARAW.com and
Copyright Registration. It is offered for sale as a DVD for $19.99 through various vendors,
including http://www.cduniverse.com. The Motion Picture can also be purchased in other formats,
such as view-on-demand.
9. The torrent protocol makes home computers with low bandwidth capable of
participating in large data transfers across so-called “Peer-to-Peer” (P2P) networks. The first fileprovider
decides to share a file (“seed”) with a torrent network. Then other users (“peers”) within
the network connect to the seed file for downloading. As additional peers request the same file,
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they become part of the same network. Unlike a traditional P2P network, each new peer receives
a different piece of the data from each peer who has already downloaded the file. This system of
multiple pieces of data coming from peers is called a “swarm.” As a result, every downloader is
also an uploader of the illegally transferred file and is simultaneously taking copyrighted
material through many ISPs in numerous jurisdictions around the country.
10. Once a participant in these downloading and uploading transactions becomes a
peer, the software reassembles the file and the peer can view the Motion Picture. Once a peer has
downloaded the complete file, that peer becomes an additional seed because he or she continues
to distribute the torrent file (here: the copyrighted work).
11. In this case, all Defendants have not only swapped the same copyrighted work,
they have swapped the exact same file. The devices connected to all IP addresses identified in
Exhibit A have utilized the same exact hash mark (a 40-character hexadecimal string which
through cryptographic methods clearly identifies the Release, comparable to a forensic digital
fingerprint) which establishes them as having taken part in the same series of transactions. All
alleged infringers downloaded the exact same copyrighted work while trading in the same
torrent.
12. While Defendants engaged in this downloading and/or uploading of the file, they
exposed their IP address to the public. With torrent software, one can see the IP address of the
various computers that one is connected to, and which are sharing files in cooperation with,
one’s own computer.
13. Through the use of torrent technology, the Defendants in this case engaged in
deliberate distribution of unlawful copies of the Motion Picture. Moreover, the Defendants in
this case engaged in a series of related transactions, because they all downloaded the exact same
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file (not just the same copyrighted work), within a limited period of time. Furthermore, because
of the nature of torrent software, they engaged in a series of related transactions because in order
to download a movie (or parts of it), one must permit other users to download and/or upload the
file from one’s own computer. Thus, the Defendants were simultaneously trading (downloading
and/or uploading) the exact same file during a limited period of time.
14. By using geo-location technology, Plaintiff has attempted to ensure that the IP
addresses are likely within the geographic location of the Court. The time period during which
the identified illegal downloads occurred is limited to ensure commonality amongst the
Defendants. The Defendants so identified downloaded the copyrighted work as part of the same
series of transactions or occurrences and are thus specifically and directly related.
COUNT I
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT UNDER 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 ET SEQ.
15. Plaintiff repeats and reincorporates herein the allegations set forth in paragraphs
1-14, above.
16. Plaintiff is a motion picture production company. Plaintiff is, and at all relevant
times has been, the owner of the copyrights and/or the owner of the exclusive rights under the
copyrights in the United States in the Motion Picture at issue.
17. The Motion Picture is an original work that is copyrighted under United States
law. The Motion Picture is the subject of Copyright Registration No. PA0001733587/2011-02-
10, and Plaintiff owns that registration. The title of the Motion Picture and its copyright
registration number are included in Exhibit C. Thus, Plaintiff is entitled to statutory remedies of
the U.S. Copyright Act.
6
18. Plaintiff has either published or licensed for publication all copies of the Motion
Picture in compliance with the copyright laws.
19. Exhibit A identifies each Defendant (one Defendant per row in the table set out in
Exhibit A) that has, without the permission or consent of the Plaintiff, reproduced and
distributed to the public at least a substantial portion of the Motion Picture. That is, each
Defendant listed in Exhibit A has, without permission or consent of Plaintiff, reproduced and
distributed to the public at least a substantial portion of Plaintiff’s copyrighted Motion Picture.
20. Exhibit A also sets out the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address associated with each
respective Defendant, the identity of the Internet Service Provider (often referred to as an “ISP”)
associated with the IP address, the last-observed date and time (“Timestamp”) that the
infringement by that Defendant of Plaintiff’s copyright in the Motion Picture was observed and
the software protocol used by the Defendant. It also shows the hash value of the file so traded,
which shows that each Defendant traded exactly the same file.
21. Further, Plaintiff is informed and believes that each of the Defendants, without the
permission or consent of Plaintiff, has used, and continues to use, an online media distribution
system (sometimes referred to as a “peer to peer” network or a “P2P” network) to reproduce at
least one copy of the Motion Picture, and to distribute to the public, including by making
available for distribution to others, copies of the Motion Picture. In doing so, each Defendant has
violated, and continues to violate, Plaintiff’s exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution
protected under the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.), including under 17 U.S.C. §
106(1) and (3).
22. Each Defendant has acted in cooperation with the other Defendants by agreeing to
provide, and actually providing, on a P2P network an infringing reproduction of at least
7
substantial portions of Plaintiff’s copyrighted Motion Picture, in anticipation of the other
Defendants doing likewise with respect to that work and/or other works. Further in this regard,
all the Defendants have engaged in a related series of transactions to engage in unlawful
reproduction and distribution of Plaintiff’s copyrighted Motion Picture. Each Defendant traded
the exact same file.
23. Each of the Defendant’s acts of infringement have been willful, intentional, and in
disregard of and with indifference to the rights of Plaintiff. The technology used to identify each
Defendant is explained in Exhibit B.
24. Plaintiff has suffered both money damages and irreparable harm as a result of
each Defendant’s infringement of Plaintiff’s copyrights in the Motion Picture. In addition,
discovery may disclose that one or more of the Defendants obtained profits as a result of such
infringement.
25. As a result of each Defendant’s infringement of Plaintiff’s exclusive rights under
copyright, Plaintiff is entitled to monetary relief pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504, which may include
Plaintiff’s damages caused by each Defendant and each Defendant’s profits and/or statutory
damages, and to Plaintiff’s attorney fees and costs pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505.
26. The conduct of each Defendant has caused, is causing and, unless enjoined and
restrained by this Court will continue to cause, Plaintiff great and irreparable injury that cannot
fully be compensated or measured in money. Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law. Pursuant
to 17 U.S.C. §§ 502 and 503, the Plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief prohibiting each
Defendant from further infringing Plaintiff’s copyrights and ordering that each Defendant destroy
all copies of the copyrighted motion pictures made in violation of the Plaintiffs’ copyrights.
8
COUNT II
CONTRIBUTORY INFRINGEMENT
27. Plaintiff repeats and reincorporates herein the allegations set forth in paragraphs
1-26, above.
28. Plaintiff is, and at all relevant times has been, the owner of the copyrights and/or
the owner of the exclusive rights under the copyrights in the United States in the Motion Picture
at issue.
29. Through use of torrent software and the process described above, each Defendant
copied the constituent elements of the copyrighted work. Further, each Defendant traded not just
the same copyrighted work, but the exact same file, as shown by the identical hash value.
30. By participating in the file swapping with the other Defendants, each Defendant
induced or caused or materially contributed to the infringing conduct of the other Defendants.
31. Each Defendant knew or should have known that other torrent users (Defendants)
involved in the file swapping were infringing upon Plaintiff’s copyrighted work. Each Defendant
directly participated in the series of uploading and downloading of the exact same file and
therefore materially contributed to each other Defendant’s infringing activities.
32. Each of the Defendants’ contributory infringements were committed willfully
within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2).
33. As a result, Plaintiff has suffered damages that were proximately caused by each
of the Defendants. Plaintiff has suffered both money damages and irreparable harm as a result of
each Defendant’s infringement of Plaintiff’s copyrights in the Motion Picture. In addition,
discovery may disclose that one or more of the Defendants obtained profits as a result of such
infringement.
9
34. The conduct of each Defendant has caused, is causing and, unless enjoined and
restrained by this Court will continue to cause, Plaintiff great and irreparable injury that cannot
fully be compensated or measured in money. Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law. Pursuant
to 17 U.S.C. §§ 502 and 503, the Plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief prohibiting each
Defendant from further infringing Plaintiff’s copyrights and ordering that each Defendant destroy
all copies of the copyrighted motion pictures made in violation of the Plaintiffs’ copyrights.
RELIEF REQUESTED
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff requests that the Court enter judgment against each Defendant
as follows:
A. For a judgment that such Defendant has infringed Plaintiff’s copyright in the Motion
Picture;
B. For entry of preliminary and permanent injunctions providing that such Defendant
shall be enjoined from directly or indirectly infringing the Plaintiffs’ rights in the Motion Picture,
including without limitation by using the Internet to reproduce or copy the Motion Picture, to
distribute the Motion Picture, or to make the Motion Picture available for distribution to anyone,
except pursuant to a lawful license or with the express authority of Plaintiffs;
C. For entry of preliminary and permanent mandatory injunctions providing that such
Defendant shall destroy all copies of the Motion Picture that Defendant has downloaded onto any
computer hard drive or server without Plaintiff’s authorization and shall destroy all copies of the
Motion Picture transferred onto any physical medium or device in Defendant’s possession,
custody, or control;
10
D. For entry of judgment that such Defendant shall pay actual damages and profits, or
statutory damages, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504, at the election of Plaintiff;
E. For entry of judgment that such Defendant shall pay Plaintiff’s costs;
F. For entry of judgment that such Defendant shall pay Plaintiff’s reasonable attorney
fees; and
G. For entry of judgment that Plaintiff have such other relief as justice may require and/or
as otherwise deemed just and proper by this Court.
Respectfully submitted this 16th day of November, 2011.
FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
By: /s/ Terik Hashmi
Terik Hashmi, JD, LLM
OH Bar – Supreme Court ID 0064329
FL/ND – Admitted
Transnational Law Group, LLC
429 Lenox Avenue, Suite 5C13
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Phone: (888) 731-8955
Fax: (305) 721-1685
Email:
terik.hashmi.esq@transnationallawgroup.com
ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF
11
JURY DEMAND
Plaintiff hereby demands trial by jury on all issues so triable.
FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
By: /s/ Terik Hashmi
Terik Hashmi, JD, LLM
OH Bar – Supreme Court ID 0064329
FL/ND – Admitted
Transnational Law Group, LLC
429 Lenox Avenue, Suite 5C13
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Phone: (888) 731-8955
Fax: (305) 721-1685
Email:
terik.hashmi.esq@transnationallawgroup.com
ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF
Exhibit A
Table of Last-Observed Infringements by Defendants of Digital Sin Inc’s Copyright in the Motion Picture “My Little Panties 2 ,” Copyright Reg. No.
PA0001733587
Defendant Internet
Protocol
Address (IP)
Timestamp (U.S. Eastern
Time)
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Protocol Hash
DTD – Can you redact the information that is unique to him/her?
Hi, I received a copyright law group type of letter that looked just like the one shown in the list of settlement letters, and I am terrified.. So does this mean I must pay the settlement??
Brian,
Is there a court case associated? Also, who is the plaintiff and attorney?
it’s a letter identical to the ones above from the Copyright Law Group PLLC, asking for 2500 ?
the first comment made on October
NO. If you have that much money to freely give away under such a BS claim, send it my way.
Read up on this scam and educate yourself. This is just a threat to sue you IF you don’t pay them – A BS THREAT. The ONLY trials actually going forward are the ones in which “Does” made counterclaims against the Plaintiff’s and locked them into the case. The Troll can’t dismiss the case now! LOL!
DTD
This isn’t legal advice by any means, but based on my experience, if you are receiving a settlement letter and have not hired an attorney at this time, I would wait it out. Do not pay the settlement, do not go to their pay site, do not contact them, do not reply to their letters, and do not say anything they can use against you in court if you answer any of their calls. Just sit tight, try not to let it stress you out. If it will help ease your mind at all, check out the list of attorneys offering assistance on the EFF site here: https://www.eff.org/issues/file-sharing/subpoena-defense
Contact some in your state and ask for a consultation, a lot of attorneys will do a consultation for free. You can discuss your case with an attorney, ask all the questions you need to ask, see if he/she can provide you with any insight as to where the case might be headed, what options you may have at this time and what he/she might consider to be the best option to choose based on your situation. Some attorneys will even be able to work with your budget so that you can either work out a short and small payment plan or that it won’t cost that much at all.
I probably wouldn’t go as far as to hiring an attorney just yet, but talking to one might help, even if it just helps you relax about it. Hang in there, we all know what you’re going through and there is a big community here to help you get through it.
thank you very much guys, I really appreciate the advice and info on this matter, I hope any of you guys who have the same problem end up being just fine, these people are crooks. I am honestly just very scared but you all have eased my mind a bit , once again thank you everyone. I’ll be posting updates on the matter .
one thing I forgot to mention was I spoke to a man named Mike Meier, and he told me that he got my name and address from Verizon which is my ISP when I had asked him how he got it. I called Verizon and aske if they had released my info and they said they did not and would have had to have told me first so that is very fishy….
@Brian: wait a minute: who called whom? If it was Mike Meier, it means he is a petty liar: he stated many times on the record that he only sends out scary letters, but never calls his victims. One judge even took it in consideration when allowing discovery….
I had called him not realizing what it was and not knowing I shouldn’t call him
DTD and SJD
Are we seeing the first harvest from the Lipscomb FL pure bill of discovery lawsuits? Isn’t Mike Meiers on record as stating that he has no affiliation whatsoever with any other Troll law firm?
I have a hunch that someone misled a nice SDNY judge.
Raul, I’m not sure (or rather sure about the opposite) that MM and Lipscomb are in the same gang. The troll relationships are complicated, and it would be nice to draw a visualization.
There are direct associations that form basic cohorts: CEG, Dunlap, Lipscomb, Randazza, Steele . There are some negotiated territories. There are plaintiffs that may employ different cohorts. There are local councils that may work for more than one master (for instance, McIntyre of TX works for both Steele and Dunlap – distinct troll camps, even hostile to each other). There are German firms that hire some local crooks directly (Baseprotect/McDaniel for instance). Some gangs are friendly to each other (Lipscomb – Steele), Some are hostile (Randazza thinks of himself as a superior being relative to Steele, but in the nutshell he is the same).
One of the criteria to sort camps out is to look at their IP harvesters. It is complicated, just like any organized crime structure.
Thanks for the insight and I will abandon that road of inquiry.
Do you have any insight as to why Lipscomb substituted himself in for Eisenberg in the first filed Santiago lawsuit shortly after it was initiated ( MDFL cane no. 3:12-cv-337)?
No, I know very little about Libscomb (except that he has a PHD in Douchebaggery).
Thanks and request,
Thank you for your efforts. They are much appreciated.
Is there any chance that you could post your example letters and motions as downloadable Word docs ?
Sure would simplify modifying them for individual use.
I’m no typist, but can handle cut and paste and simple modifications.
Stuck in the South Florida Pure Bill of Discovery. Troll(Lipscomb) has my name and has been calling. Here is a transcript of the latest call I got from them. Does this seem to like the standard Troll call?
Hello, my name is ‘Insert Troll worker bee’, I am contacting ‘Insert Name’ with regards to the copyright infringement case ‘insert case #’.At this time I am assuming that you are declining any resolution to this case before moving forward into Federal Court in ‘Insert my State’ . At this time I am assuming that you have retained counsel and I do need you to have your attorney contact me as soon as possible at ‘insert troll phone#’. And if for any reason you have not retained counsel yet which I do strongly suggest that you do, I need you to contact me either way so that I can provide you the information on the case as it proceeds forward into Federal Court, judge, jury, litigation and things of that sort. So, again my number is ‘insert troll phone#’. Thank you so much I look forward to speaking with either you or your attorney and have a great day.
Enjoy the 4th of July folks.
Same here… only the name is different. Hers was Serena Duncan. I think I saw her name in one of the blog here. Maybe we should disseminate this kind of information/scam to our family, friends, and community. It stressed me out at first but after reading all the articles here which my friend resourcefully researched, I am now relaxed but still on the guard. Thanks for sharing.
I am a lawyer at Booth Sweet LLP defending a case against Malibu Media. I am filing a motion in SIX DAYS and I REQUIRE a letter from Malibu Media offering settlement to avoid litigation. Please contact someone via boothsweet.com with any leads. Thank you.
I got this by email and I will probably get it in snail mail soon. I originally got a postcard from Charter saying something about internet security. I responded to it and it was about this. They wanted $200 and I didn’t send it in time. Then I got this. What should I do? If I don’t reply to it will they come after me or leave me alone?
———————————————————————————-
The Copyright Law Group, PLLC
By Certified Mail
(date)
To: XXXXXXXXXX
Re: Your Copyright Infringement in Connection With
Movie Title: XXXXXXXXXX
Studio: New Sensations Inc
Case Management ID: XXXXXXXXX
THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER
PLEASE CONSIDER CONSULTING YOUR OWN ATTORNEY
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
This firm represents the above-identified studio in connection with the enforcement, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 504 and 505, of its copyright in the above-named movie.
A notice was previously sent to you on (date) at (time) including the following infringement information, and providing you an opportunity to settle the copyright infringement claim against you:
Infringement Title: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Infringement File Name: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Infringement Hash: 8BDBE7A29C06D5B56F864F38BB344809F56EA51C
Infringement File Size: 257,329,397 bytes
Infringement Protocol: BitTorrent
Infringement Timestamp: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Infringers IP Address: XXX.XX.XX.XXX
Infringers Port: XXX
ISP: Charter Communications
You did not take advantage of the opportunity, and that opportunity has passed.
You do have one opportunity to resolve this matter before litigation by paying a settlement of $1,750.00 by the close of business on (date).
NOTICE ABOUT MEDIATION OR ARBITRATION TO RESOLVE THIS MATTER
We respect your privacy. You or your attorney may contact us to request confidential mediation through a neutral organization, such as a mediation provider. Such mediation proceedings are confidential.
If you desire to resolve this matter, send the settlement payment of $1750.00 in the form of a check or money order made payable to “The Copyright Law Group, PLLC” with “Case Management ID: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX” written on the remittance/advice line of the check or money order, along with your signature on the Liability Release Agreement (see attached document) to this address:
The Copyright Law Group, PLLC
4000 Legato Road, Suite 1100
Fairfax, VA 22033
With respect to the Liability Release Agreement, read it carefully. Once the money represented by your check or money order has actually been received in my attorney-client trust account, I will return to you a counter-signed Liability Release Agreement on behalf of New Sensations Inc, along with a Settlement Date and Release Security Code.
Do NOT delete any files relating to the above-identified motion picture from any of your computers unless and until the above-identified studio’s copyright infringement claim against you is resolved by settlement or otherwise. If you do, in addition to damages, we will seek sanctions against you for spoliation (i.e., destruction or alteration) of evidence.
As noted above, you should consider consulting with your own legal counsel. We look forward to resolving this case with you according to the terms set forth in the Liability Release Agreement.
Sincerely,
Mike Meier
THE COPYRIGHT LAW GROUP, PLLC
Copyright and Trademark Law
www[.]copyrightdefenselawyer.com
4000 Legato Road, Suite 1100
Fairfax, VA 22033
Tel: 888-407-6770
Thanks for the information. I don’t believe there is any case opened on this matter for you. CLG collected the public IP addresses sharing the Digital Sin movie and then sent a DMCA like notice to Charter, who passed the “postcard” onto you. By responding to the postcard, the Troll has your contact information. It is possible they will open a mass John Doe case and add you public IP address to it. If they do open a new case, they will obtain likely obtain your subscriber information and send you more settlement demands. It is highly doubtful they “will come after you,” and serve you with a summons. IMO, I would keep all the paperwork you get and ignore the Troll. Only get an attorney if you are served with a summons/complaint. There have been very few actual people severed with summons. Severing a person with a summons based only on the public IP address is risky for the Troll.
DTD
not to mention I’m moving to a different city in a week and switching to a different internet carrier, so that would probably deter them further I bet.
So even though the troll got my name and my address, they probably wouldn’t actually take the time to do anything about it? And the case management ID isn’t actually an opened case?
The Troll doesn’t care if you switch ISPs or move. They have your information and will likely continue to try and get you to settle. It is still possible that they will add your public IP address to a case in the future. Depending on how long the Troll takes to open any case (if they ever will), the ISP may not have your subscriber information available for them (each ISP is different) after you cancel service. If you live in a location where CLG doesn’t have Troll lawyers authorized to practice law, it even less likely anything will come of this. The case management ID # is an internal Troll tracking number and not a Federal or States case number. Ignore everything except a court summons.
DTD
I suppose I should ask since I don’t really know these things, when I change to a different internet carrier will my IP address change?
Yes
One more thing, When I responded to the postcard, I called the copyrightsettlement.com people and they granted me an extension to pay the initial $200 (which probably would have just been easier and less of a pain), this letter is in response to me not paying within their window. Does that change anything, now that they know that I know about this?
It depends what you told the CLG people. If you made some sort of admission, that could be used against you if they ever decided to take it to trial. If you just indicated you wanted to settle, that is not an admission. What it does tell CLG is that you considered settling and thus are a prime target for increased pressure to settle.
DTD
Hello, I was wondering if anyone has received a non compliance letter (Not a court letter, but a troll letter)? Today I received a letter from prenda saying I had less than 10 days to respond to contact, after ignoring the original 30 days to pay us letter. Looking above I couldn’t find one (but I could of easily missed it).
Please scan the letter and send me a copy if possible. Thanks
DTD
What happens if you keep ignoring letters?
99.99% of the time-nothing.
For 99.9% of the Does, nothing but the Troll gets upset because you are not paying up. For the very few, the Troll may think you are ripe to be issued a summons. That will either scare some Does to settle or possible ignore it – ripe for a default judgement.
DTD
I feel better now, but id feel even better with some supporting evidence
Keep reading here, other forums, and on PACER. You will see.
DTD
I think I have a basic understanding now. I might get a letter demanding settlement, then more letters, possibly phone calls. Then I might get a summons for court. What happens then? Can I still settle? Will it be an obnoxious number like $57,000
The “might” in getting a summons is very very very slim. Unless they have something besides your public IP address, they have crap for evidence. They are taking a huge risk in issuing a summons. It could pay off and someone settles, but it could backfire and the Doe fights back. That happened to Prenda Law in Wong, Abrahams, and Hatfield. In CO, Fantalis is giving Malibu Media a hard time.
http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2012/07/20/in-a-well-prepared-and-mighty-counter-attack-malibu-media-v-fantalis-case-turns-into-fantalis-v-malibu-media/
Now you can settle at any point (with or without an attorney), but please know that NO cases have yet to come to full trial and the only people who have had judgements against them are the ones who ignore the summons and make it easy for the Troll.
DTD
Glad I found your blog. My parents showed me a letter they received from Comcast the other day stating that they were subpoenaed to submit my parents\’ IP info in a John Doe case brought by Century Media. After checking it out for them, I\’ve found out it\’s a record label in England filing suit against the bittorrent distribution of a Lacuna Coil album. My parents are both senior citizens who would never have heard of either bittorrents or a metal band of that name. They do have a wireless router which could be accessed by others who were visiting, but certainly not my dad who\’s name is on the Comcast account. I hate to think some troll lawyer will soon be harassing them, but the lawsuit was filed in New Jersey, they live in California and my Dad\’s disabled and lives on his Social Security. Hopefully a copyright troll would find this a pointless waste of time before ever getting to trying to file a summons.
Also consider calling the local news media to do a story on what the Trolls are trying against your eldery parents. I would suggest you or someone else go into the router and document all the settings and note if any ‘Unknown’ computers have connected to your parents network.
DTD
Yeah, I had already thought about the local news media. A couple of local channels have those ‘legal help’ segments which feature people being harassed or being taken advantage of. Definitely keeping that in my back pocket if this goes anywhere beyond this Comcast letter.
I too received an email from copyrightsettlements.com through my internet provider a while back. Giving me a ID and pin, they told me that I could “settle” by paying $400 through their website. By doing some research, most people have recommended ignoring the email. Many say paying would be admitting guilt but on the other hand, some people who chose to ignore the email were served with subpoenas. The due date to pay the $400 is fast approaching, and I wanted to seek some concrete advice that would let me not lose sleep at night. I’ve chose to ignore it for the past couple of weeks but I guess I’m kind of freaking out since a deadline is approaching.
This sounds like CEG. These guys are the second string players in the overall Troll operations. You need to decide what works for you, but these are the last guys I would expect to actual come after a Doe with a summons. Paying it doesn’t directly admit guilt, but many people would say, “Why then pay it.” Think about it, if they actually had creditable evidence, why would they only ask $400? They want cash fast and keeping it low may make some people decide it is quicker and easier to just pay it.
DTD
I think I’m probably going to take your advice and ignore the email. They do have my IP address but I have not contacted them in any way (except for accessing the site to see the requested payment amount). I’m just hoping this doesn’t turn into anything bigger! I should be okay right? Thank you so much!
Hey Sam. I am in the same boat as you from CEG TEK, and my deadline is approaching soon. I have only viewed the settlement website, they want 200$. I have not paid or provided any information to them at all. My ISP is charter and as far as I know, Charter doesn’t release information without a subpoena. So hopefully it will stay like that. I just want to know if anything is happening to you? Since I think its the same company that sent it to you as well I just want to know whats happening.
So today I got an email from my ISP, from copyrightsettlements.com. I called them not knowing any better since I hadn’t done the research. They asked for my name number and case number, so I gave them my number and first name. A few hours later I got a voice mail asking me to call back. After resurrecting your site and others I feel that this is merely a scam. Do you think now that they have my number I have put myself out there too much? Should I now just pay the $250 fine?
Hey I was just wondering what happened? I am in the same position as you. Did they just leave you alone or did they actually go any further?
I just got a voicemail today from MALIBU MEDIA saying there was a case against me naming me as John Doe #??. I NEVER received a letter from my ISP because I moved out of state 3 months ago. I had no indication that this was coming, until I received the voicemail today. I’m a poor college student, and I def. don’t have the 8,000 to settle. If anyone has advice for me I would greatly appreciate it…really freaking out at this point.
hi! i just received a letter tofay from Prenda Law Inc., saying that my IP Adress was used for illegal downloading of a porn movie. they wrote it happened almost a year ago, strange if it really happened why do they come after me now????
they want me to settle for 3400$, i dont have the money, and i dont know if this thing was really downloaded or not.
They gave me ebout 9 das to settle.
What should i do?? If you want i can scan the letter and mail it to you.
Thank you!
Please scan and email the letter if possible. I like to see how they are changing the letters over time. What to do??? Here are my podcasts – http://dietrolldie.com/podcasts/ and one is titled just that. Have you read and reread all the posts under the Newbie/Noob page?
Bottom Line: If you didn’t do it, why are you even thinking of settling? They only have weak evidence that lists your public IP address as doing this. This was collected by “Their” technical monitoring firm (6881 Forensics LLC) and is far from unbias or even untested. Prenda and the other Trolls have not taken anyone to court and actually fought a case. The best they have is a default judgement when a Doe decides to stick his head in the sand and ignore a court summons. For the Does who actually fight back, Prenda runs away. Learn the Richard Pryor Response and educate yourself on the actions of the Trolls.
DTD
I just got my first settlement letter for $885, and im awkwardly excited. Not sure why I got it now though, the letter said the court date was the 15th. From John Wiley and Sons via Dunnegan and Scileppi
If possible, please scan and send me copy.
Thanks
DTD
where should I send it?
Doerayme2011@hotmail.com
DTD
Sent. Is there a way to find out how many times they have tried to sue people in court?
I also received the “DMCA Notice of Action Email to a Comcast subscriber TD_Notice1″ email, does anyone know what action they take next, if any?
I think you guys should follow this Paul Nicoletti Troll in michigan. He seems to be getting good arguments in Patrick Collins case: 4:12-cv-13309. See the latest plaintiff’s motion to oppose order of quash/sever. He seems to be a dangerous one.
Been 2 weeks since I got my settlement offer, nothing since! Good or bad?
Neither good nor bad. I’ve seen the Wiley & Son’s suits but have yet to see them go anywhere with it.
Hi, I was contacted by my ISP on August 23 stating that they were subpoened to submit my information by 9/14/2012 in the Guava LLC v.Skyler Case No. 2012-L-7363. I did nothing about it and thought I was in the clear until I received a letter from Daniel Goldsmith Ruggiero today in the mail stating I have ten days to respond about a settlement. Attached to the letter was a copy of the Prenda Law payment authorization. They want $6,000 to settle. I know the right protocol is to continue to ignore at this point, but I am a little nervous now that they have my name and address at this time. I can only assume that I will receive a law suit next. When and if that happens, I will then contact an attorney to fight it but for now I am looking for any suggestions or advice anyone can provide which would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Have you looked here? http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/steele-hansmeier/guava-llc-v-skyler-case-il-cook-county-12-l-7363/
Other people have been talking about the $6K demand letters. Nothing has really changed and the case will go down the toilet in time. Why would they actually come after you and not some of the other thousands? As you are not in the jurisdiction of the court, they would have to refile it in the correct one.
DTD
Thanks DTD. I have read the discussion previously, but it was good to reread it and ts see some of the current comments from others. Thanks for providing such a great service to all of us who are just pawns in the chess game being played by the trolls.
Hi, I just got an email yesterday about copyright infringement from a week ago. It’s Ira representing New Sensations and Combat Zone. They want $200 for each movie and I have 3.5 weeks to settle. I haven’t been able to find any information about cases in Wisconsin… I need help!
Steve,
I am not an attorney. However, Ira has been doing this $200 email threat for close to 3 years. He did have some mass lawsuits in 2010 and 2011, all have been dismissed.
DO NOT visit the settlement site.
Read the following.
http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/discussions/ira-siegel/
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100401/0846028831.shtml
Unfortunately I already did visit the settlement site before learning not to :/ . Does that jeopardize my situation? Will it match I.P’s even if they are dynamic? Is it statistically low to be taken to court when refusing to pay? Would paying them only incur more lawyers hounding me? Thanks so much.
Nobody really knows if they match IP addresses that visit their settlement site. They most likely do. First, take a step back and breathe. This is not a lawsuit, it is Ira trying to scare people into thinking there is a lawsuit, or one will be filed.
Read Rob Cashman’s blog, specifically this post on CEG.
http://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/ceg-tek-duplicate-titles/
Where could I find out if there is a troll in my state? I imagine the chances of being summoned increase if there is… Also, does anyone know of any closed/pending cases for Minnesota or Wisconsin?
Mark, any news or updates for us? What happened? Did whatever happen, happen in Wisconsin jurisdiction?
What happens if you DO agree to settle for a low amount ($200). Will they go away at that point?
I am dealing with this as we speak and would like to send u all the copies I have and if u have any advice for me I would really appreciate it
Haven’t seen anything on here about FreePlay Music LLC and TuneSat LLC. TuneSat has figuredc out how to bypass the ISP altogether by scraping email addresses from websites.
A volunteer at our very small charity used a 10- to 20-second clip of background music under the intro for a series of podcasts posted on our website. A licence was required (if you read the TOS very carefully), but not obtained. The first letter demanded proof of licence or payment of $1000 per use within 5 days for 68 URLs ($68K). The second letter said we could still settle for a 20% “late fee” ($81.6K). Unfortunately, another volunteer acknowledged the emails, so we couldn’t just ignore them. However, we refused to offer more than $500 and they eventually took it. This part of their business model seems to be panicking unsophisticated folks into paying before they have a chance to think or look into it.
LETTER #1
From: compliance@tunesat.com
To:
Sent: Wednesday,
Subject: RE: The Unauthorized Use of Freeplay Music, LLC’s Copyrights – For settlement purpose only
[Freeplay Logo]
Date: Wed
It has come to our attention that you/and or your organization are using music, the copyrights of which are owned or controlled exclusively by our client Freeplay Music LLC, in on-line video/audio content located at the links referenced below. Our client has carefully checked its records and cannot locate any record of you or your organization having obtained a proper license for the legal use of these copyrights. As such, your use of this music may be a violation of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17 of the Copyright Act of 1976).
For your information, we utilize a digital fingerprinting technology that can locate the use of Freeplay Music LLC’s copyrights anywhere on the web and lets us know how and where its material is being used and by whom. As described above, you have received this e-mail because our client’s copyrights have been detected in on-line video/audio content relating to you and/or your organization, and a review of its records did not indicate any existing license for these uses. As such, in absence of a proper license for these uses of our copyrights, these uses appear to be infringements.
Here are the web links we found with the uses of our client’s material:
[List of 68 URLs, linked to 26 podcast files, posted on two linked domains (org.ca; http://www.org.ca) deleted]
We demand that you immediately respond to this e-mail in one of the following ways:
1) If you have a valid license for the material or are otherwise authorized to be using Freeplay Music LLC’s copyrights in the above referenced video/audio content, please provide us with proof thereof. Please e-mail such proof, along with a copy of any corresponding documentation to: compliance@tunesat.com. Please include your name/organization’s name (or the name of the corresponding licensee) in the subject line. Please also be sure to include your name/organization’s address in the e-mail, along with any other information that might help us to understand what authorization, if any, has been granted to you for these uses of our client’s copyrights. If the music was licensed through a third party or through a so-called DBA (“doing business as”), again, please include that information in your e-mail and supply us with a copy of the corresponding license so that we may verify the proper licensing status.
2) If you do not have a license or other authorization to use this music, we would be willing to issue a retroactive license to cover the usage to date. Such a retroactive license is contingent on your immediately ceasing and desisting from the use of the copyrights, fully disclosing any and all unauthorized uses of our client’s copyrights and paying for a corresponding retroactive license for any and all other uses of our client’s copyrights. This is only a retroactive license that covers the specific uses of the on-line video/audio content as identified above. No other uses of the same content in any other medium, including but not limited to TV broadcasts, corporate/industrial use, or uses on internet URL’s other than those listed above, are allowed hereunder. To the extent that any such uses of the material have already been made, this offer is not valid and you must contact us immediately to discuss a settlement which includes both the on-line uses identified above and any other unidentified uses.
The fee for such retroactive license is $1000 per use.
Payment of this full fee must be received by us within five (5) business days from the date of this letter. Simply ceasing and desisting from the use of these copyrights or removing the links to the identified content will not discharge you of responsibility for the initial copyright infringement and the damage that has already been done by using our client’s material without a proper license.
Below is a PayPal link which you can use to submit payment to us immediately. Please be sure to list your name/organization’s name in the dialog box so that your payment is correctly referenced.
Once payment has been received, we will issue the corresponding retroactive license agreement to you for review and signature.
If you would like to properly license these copyrights for the continuing use of this material, please contact compliance@tunesat.com .
PayPal Button
Press the above button to pay.
If you can not see the payment button, please click here .
________________________________________
The above is being sent for settlement purposes only without addressing the value of these uses nor the damages that were caused by any unauthorized uses, and is only valid for five (5) business days from the date of this e-mail. If this matter is not fully resolved within the next five (5) business days, we will apply all other legal remedies to protect our client’s property from illegal uses of its material.
The contents of this e-mail are not and shall not be construed as an admission of any kind as to the facts set forth, nor the merits of any claim(s) we and/or any other party may have or may purport to have, nor shall it be construed as an admission for any purposes on our part or on the part of any other party. All of our rights and remedies are hereby expressly reserved.
Sincerely,
Compliance Department
TuneSat LLC
1650 Broadway, Suite 1108
New York, NY 10019
http://www.tunesat.com
t: 646-738-6464
compliance@tunesat.com
LETTER #2
From: compliance@tunesat.com
To:
Sent: Thursday,
Subject: RE: The Unauthorized Use of Freeplay Music, LLC’s Copyrights – For settlement purpose only
FreePlay Logo
Date: Thu
As you know from the previous letter we sent you on 01/09/2013, it has come to our attention that you/and or your organization are using music, the copyrights of which are owned or controlled exclusively by Freeplay Music LLC, in on-line video/audio content located at the links referenced below. As you know from that letter, a review of our client’s records did not indicate any existing license agreement for the legal use of these copyrights in this on-line video/audio content. As such, your use of this music may be a violation of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17 of the Copyright Act of 1976).
Here are the web links we found with the uses of our client’s material: [URL list deleted]
To date, you have failed to respond to our previous letter and we have not received a corresponding payment. As such, these apparent infringements of our client’s copyrights remain open, unaddressed and unresolved. Though we do not appreciate the seemingly avoidable delay in addressing this very serious legal issue, we remain interested in amicably resolving the matter. To that end, as was explained in detail in our previous letter, while we flatly reject the mere removal of the links above as a full settlement of this matter without the payment of a corresponding retroactive license fee, even though our previous offer to settle this matter was conditional on being able to complete the settlement within a 5-day timeframe which has now expired, in an effort to allow you a little more time to resolve the matter, we would be willing to extend our previous offer to settle this matter with a 20% late fee for five (5) business days from the date of this e-mail. If this matter is not fully resolved on or before 01/25/2013, our client will be forced to consider its other options.
We demand that you immediately respond to this e-mail in one of the following ways:
1) If you have a valid license for the material or are otherwise authorized to be using Freeplay Music LLC’s copyrights in the above referenced video/audio content, please provide us with proof thereof. Please e-mail such proof, along with a copy of any corresponding documentation to: compliance@tunesat.com . Please include your name/organization’s name (or the name of the corresponding licensee) in the subject line. Please also be sure to include your name/organization’s address in the e-mail, along with any other information that might help us to understand what authorization, if any, has been granted to you for these uses of our client’s copyrights. If the music was licensed through a third party or through a so-called DBA (“doing business as”), again, please include that information in your e-mail and supply us with a copy of the corresponding license so that we may verify the proper licensing status.
2) If you do not have a license or other authorization to use this music, we would be willing to issue a retroactive license to cover the usage to date. Such a retroactive license is contingent on your immediately ceasing and desisting from the use of the copyrights, fully disclosing any and all unauthorized uses of our client’s copyrights and paying for a corresponding retroactive license for any and all other uses of our client’s copyrights. This is only a retroactive license that covers the specific uses of the on-line video/audio content as identified above. No other uses of the same content in any other medium, including but not limited to TV broadcasts, corporate/industrial use, or uses on internet URL’s other than those listed above, are allowed hereunder. To the extent that any such uses of the material have already been made, this offer is not valid and you must contact us immediately to discuss a settlement which includes both the on-line uses identified above and any other unidentified uses. The fee for such retroactive license is $1200 per use.
Payment of this full fee must be received by us within five (5) business days from the date of this letter. Simply ceasing and desisting from the use of these copyrights or removing the links to the identified content will not discharge you of responsibility for the initial copyright infringement and the damage that has already been done by using our client’s material without a proper license.
Below is a PayPal link which you can use to submit payment to us immediately. Please be sure to list your name/organization’s name in the dialog box so that your payment is correctly referenced.
Once payment has been received, we will issue the corresponding retroactive license agreement to you for review and signature.
If you would like to properly license these copyrights for the continuing use of this material, please contact compliance@tunesat.com .
PayPal Button
Press the above button to pay.
If you can not see the payment button, please click here .
________________________________________
The above is being sent for settlement purposes only without addressing the value of these uses nor the damages that were caused by any unauthorized uses, and is only valid for five (5) business days from the date of this e-mail. If this matter is not fully resolved within the next five (5) business days, we will apply all other legal remedies to protect our client’s property from illegal uses of its material.
The contents of this e-mail are not and shall not be construed as an admission of any kind as to the facts set forth, nor the merits of any claim(s) we and/or any other party may have or may purport to have, nor shall it be construed as an admission for any purposes on our part or on the part of any other party. All of our rights and remedies are hereby expressly reserved.
Sincerely,
Compliance Department
TuneSat LLC
1650 Broadway, Suite 1108
New York, NY 10019
http://www.tunesat.com
t: 646-738-6464
compliance@tunesat.com
I’ve gotten of these letters as well and in really glad I read this post, my main question is of all this I have read they are accusing me if illegally downloading a movie I remember a while ago your allowed to have a digital back of if you own the movie well I own the movie there saying I illegally downloaded what do you guys think I should do? Thanks