Film production companies affiliated with with Voltage Pictures, LLC have filed new copyright infringement lawsuits against “John Doe” defendants in two separate U.S. District Courts in Louisiana.
First, Dallas Buyers Club, LLC filed a “singleton” case against a Doe party in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, based in Baton Rouge. As has been widely reported by Troll Defense and others, Dallas Buyers Club is an award-winning 2013 film starring Matthew McConaughey which movie has been the subject of dozens of copyright infringement actions filed in federal courts across the U.S. over the past few years.
A few days later, Clear Skies Nevada, LLC docketed another case against a single Doe party in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, situated in New Orleans. Clear Skies Nevada, LLC is the rights-holder with respect to the 2014 film Good Kill, which concerns a military drone pilot (played by Ethan Hawke) who questions the ethics of dropping bombs in Afghanistan from his remote post in Nevada.
Both of the new lawsuits allege copyright infringement by the defendants through their use of BitTorrent file-sharing software to copy and distribute the films at issue. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that “Defendant acted in a collective and interdependent manner with others via the Internet to unlawfully reproduce and distribute Plaintiff’s copyrighted Motion Picture by means of the interactive ‘peer-to-peer’ (‘P2P’) file transfer technology protocol called BitTorrent.” The plaintiffs seek statutory damages pursuant to the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and costs, and an injunction against further infringement.
As with other similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions, Voltage Pictures, LLC is the likely instigator, with distribution rights or co-production credits with regard to each title. Voltage Pictures is said to be the driving force behind hundreds of similar BitTorrent copyright actions that have been filed in recent years.
UPDATE (4/8/16):
Additional singleton suits were filed in the Eastern District by QOTD Film Investment, Ltd. and Glacier Films (USA), Inc.
QOTD Film Investment Ltd. holds copyrights to the newly-released Werner Herzog epic “Queen of the Desert.” As noted in a prior troll defense post, “Queen of the Desert” stars James Franco, Nicole Kidman and Robert Pattinson, and the new suit is part of an emerging national trolling campaign.
The Glacier Films (USA), Inc. case involves the 2014 crime film “American Heist,” with Hayden Christensen and Adrien Brody.
UPDATE (5/14/16):
ELargo Holdings, LLC, which holds copyrights to the 2015 action film Close Range, has filed additional BitTorrent copyright infringement suits in the Eastern and Western Districts of Louisiana. As noted in a prior Troll Defense post, Close Range is directed by “[l]ow-budget action maestro Isaac Florentine,” and stars British MMA fighter Scott Adkins as a mercenary battling a Mexican drug cartel.
At least one case was filed in the same court by Fathers & Daughters Nevada, LLC, which owns the rights to the Russell Crowe drama Fathers and Daughters.
All of the Louisiana lawsuits were filed by Patrick Miller, LLC in New Orleans. Below is a case listing with links to the complaints.
Filed: 02/20/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00112
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-174.64.14.54
Filed: 02/22/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-01511
Clear Skies Nevada, LLC v. Doe-68.96.33.171
Filed: 03/31/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00210
Elargo Holdings, LLC v. DOE-68.105.146.38
Filed: 04/05/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-02800
GLACIER FILMS (USA), INC v. DOE- 172.10.126.139
Filed: 04/05/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-02803
QOTD FILM INVESTMENT LTD v. DOE- 104.57.244.173
Filed: 04/06/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-02867
Elargo Holdings, LLC v. DOE- 104.5.232.186
Filed: 04/12/2016
Case No. 1:16-cv-00480
ELargo Holdings, LLC v. Doe 209.33.29.66
Filed: 04/14/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-03144
Elargo Holdings, LLC v. DOE- 74.170.139.35
Filed: 04/19/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00250
Elargo Holdings, LLC v. Doe-162.234.117.120
Filed: 04/20/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-03467
Fathers & Daughters Nevada, LLC v. Doe-76.107.58.169
Filed: 11/04/2016
Case No. 5:16-cv-01557
GLACIER FILMS (USA), INC v. DOE- 73.203.180.24
Parties and subscribers receiving ISP notices of the cases can contact attorney Benjamin Justus for a free consultation regarding possible options.