Troll Defense has just learned, courtesy of Ray Beckerman, that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that the joinder of many different “John Doe” parties into a single action, for purposes of obtaining early discovery of the Does’ identities, is improper when the only basis for joinder is…

A new BitTorrent lawsuit involving the award-winning Dallas Buyers Club film was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Colorado.  The complaint sets forth now-standard allegations of copyright infringement via BitTorrent usage against 20 anonymous “Doe” parties.  Unlike the Marion County, Oregon state court trademark actions involving the same film that were previously reported…

The owners of rights to the award-winning Dallas Buyers Club film have resorted to filings in the state courts of Oregon naming scores of unidentified internet users.

As was reported over the last few months, an entity known as “Dallas Buyer’s Club, LLC” had begun a series of Bittorrent copyright infringement lawsuits in the federal…

With one of the more ironic titles to be injected into a standard Bittorrent copyright lawsuit, the owner of rights to the 2013 film “The Power of the Few” is wielding the powerful threat of massive statutory damages against, well, more than a few Does.

The Power of the Few, LLC has filed several lawsuits in U.S. District Courts in Colorado and Louisiana over its work, which has been described by The Hollywood Reporter as “[t]he latest Pulp Fiction wannabe.” It features Christopher Walken, Christian Slater, and others in an ensemble cast of characters facing various challenges on the streets of New Orleans (where, it turns out, at least one of the lawsuits have been filed).

The Louisiana suit was filed by New Orleans attorney Alexa R. Stabler of AdamsIP, LLC, while the Colorado suits were lodged by Scott T. Kannady of Denver. Case listings with links to the complaints are below.
Continue Reading "The Power of The Few" Lawsuits Filed Against Many In Colorado, Louisiana

“Killer Joe” is a 2011 “Southern Gothic” black comedy film starring Matthew McConaughey in a murder-for-insurance-money plot. It also enjoyed a ratings controversy as it garnered an NC-17 rating for bloody, sadistic violence. The owners of the film are now trying their hand with a substantial batch of Bittorrent suits in Ohio.

The Complaint lists Killer Joe Nevada LLC as the “RIGHTSHOLDER”, but other sources show that veteran Bittorrent copyright lawsuit troll Voltage Pictures, LLC–of “Hurt Locker” fame and “The Expendables” infamy was involved in the production, and this may explain the copyright litigation connection.

The Complaint I was provided was filed by Columbus, Ohio attorney Yousef M. Faroniya. Watch out for ISP letters to issue from Cox, Frontier and others over the next few months.
Continue Reading Killer Joe Torrent Suits: Going "Southern Gothic" In Ohio

We just learned that Judge Robert S. Lasnik, who is managing all of Richard Symmes’ dozens of Bittorrent copyright actions filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, has on his own initiative entered several orders quashing pending subpoenas, imposing a stay, and ordering the plaintiffs in these cases to “show…