Criminal Productions, Inc., which holds copyrights to the action flick Criminal, has filed BitTorrent copyright infringement suits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.  These are the first such lawsuits in the nation, continuing the status of the Oregon District as a testing ground for new film titles in BitTorrent litigation.

According to Variety, the film “casts Kevin Costner as a brain-damaged, sociopathic convict implanted with the memories of a dead CIA agent… .”  A Washington Post review concludes, “[l]ike its brain-damaged protagonist, ‘Criminal’ just shouts and shoots its way into, not out of, an oblivion of illogic, plot holes and emotionally unengaging scenery-chewing.”

The new lawsuits in Oregon allege copyright infringement by “Doe” parties through their use of BitTorrent file-sharing software. Along with generic allegations of BitTorrent-based copyright infringement, the suits seek statutory damages pursuant to the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and costs, and an injunction against further infringement.

The complaints in the Criminal lawsuits allege that each company “is an affiliate of Nu Image / Millennium Films, production companies and distributors of a notable catalog of major motion pictures.” In addition to recent suits involving London Has Fallen, several other films distributed or produced by Nu Image/Millennium have been the subject of prior enforcement actions, including Automata, The Humbling, The Expendables, Charlie Countryman and Bad Lieutenant.

Like many other similar lawsuits filed in the District of Oregon, the Criminal Productions cases were filed by Salem, OR attorney Carl D. Crowell and Crowell Law.  A case listing with links to the complaints is below.

UPDATE (3/12/17): After a hiatus of many months, these plaintiffs resumed filing Oregon actions in recent weeks.  Notably, recent complaints reflects the continuation of the tactic of making passing reference to the alleged infringement of one or more additional film titles, although the rights-holders associated with such titles are not plaintiffs in the actions.  As Troll Defense has reported, the additional titles named are usually the subject of past, pending (or future) BitTorrent lawsuits involving the same attorney.  ISP subscribers and others implicated in these cases should prepare for settlement demands based on these additional, not-filed claims.

Parties and subscribers receiving ISP notices of these actions can contact attorney Benjamin Justus for a free consultation regarding possible options.

Filed: 04/28/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00729
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-24.21.60.214

Filed: 04/28/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00730
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-50.139.92.146

Filed: 04/28/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00731
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-76.115.233.180

Filed: 04/28/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00732
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.193.213.202

Filed: 06/14/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01082
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.236.178.219

Filed: 06/16/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01094
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-73.67.184.212

Filed: 06/27/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01310
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-67.171.195.110

Filed: 07/05/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01369
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-24.20.25.90

Filed: 07/27/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01523
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-73.164.182.213

Filed: 08/12/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01628
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-73.25.255.122

Filed: 10/31/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-02094
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-67.171.170.14

Filed: 01/28/2017
Case No. 3:17-cv-00156
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.237.177.90

Filed: 02/12/2017
Case No. 3:17-cv-00240
Criminal Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.237.177.90