Dark Alley Media, Falcon Studios, Hot House Entertainment, Jet Set Productions, Pitbull Productions, Raging Stallion Studios and Titan Media have announced that a raid early Saturday morning raid ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and conducted by two teams of U.S. Marshals yielded more than 4,000 counterfeit DVDs.
In addition, the Court has served lawsuits against several retailers for engaging in the duplication, importation, distribution, and/or sale of unauthorized merchandise infringing upon copyrighted and trademarked properties. Defendants in the lawsuits and raid include:
Peep Show XXX 610 8th Ave., New York, NY and
The Blue DVD, Inc., 236 W.40th ST., New York, NY (not to be confused with The Blue Store)
The complaint was filed in Federal Court for the Southern District of New York as a result of a broadening investigation that uncovered a large scale counterfeiter, plaintiffs' spokesperson Michael Violet announced Monday. The initial discovery was made by Dark Alley Media who notified the other studios and it was decided that Pitbull Productions would spearhead this action.
Among claims asserted are those under the Latham act "for causing confusion, mistake and deception "and that the defendants had unlawfully used Plaintiffs' "trademarks and copyrights in interstate commerce." It is the infringement of trademark which constitutes false designation and false advertising.
In effect, a legal dragnet thrown over the city of New York by Plaintiffs, seeks to determine all parties, persons and entities involved in the counterfeiting, illegal distribution and sale of their DVDs. "These egregious acts of corporate terrorism will not be tolerated and the Plaintiffs have implored every legal means at their disposal to apprehend and prosecute all those involved," plaintiffs' spokesman added.
Plaintiffs were granted a sweeping order from the Federal Court in New York restraining the defendants from the sale of the counterfeit DVDs and the Court also ordered the U.S. Marshals to seize and raid the establishments for purposes of confiscating the counterfeit DVDs. The Court also asked that Pitbull Productions and Dark Alley Media representatives accompany the U.S. Marshals to help identify all goods to be seized.
"According to industry figures, piracy is 600% higher for adult content than for theatrical films. If we are to survive the natural course of business evolution, we must be even more aggressive than Hollywood", said Mark Hovanec, executive in charge of production for Jet Set Men.
"The increased proliferation of counterfeit merchandise and DVD piracy of adult male entertainment properties has gone on for too long," said Pat Reshen, executive vice president of Pitbull Productions, Inc., "The time has come to take a stand against the flood of cheap knockoffs and blatant bootlegs. The vendors who sell pirated DVDs are causing huge economic losses for legitimate businesses and must be stopped."
"When we first uncovered this plot, we had no idea the depth to which it would extend. Soon, we discovered nearly every studio in this industry was being affected," said Dark Alley Media President Matthias von Fistenberg. "No one should think that because we produce adult material, or gay material, that we do not deserve equal protection under the laws of this country, or that we will show any hesitation in exercising our right."
Hot House Entertainment President, Steven Scarborough remarked, "I am glad to see these studios come together and enforce legal action against these criminals. Each judgment against these thieves sends a clear signal to others that they will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Hot House is only too happy to cooperate in these pursuits."
Raging Stallion President Chris Ward noted the high quality of the bogus copies, "These were really good, very professional, and clearly mass produced. We strongly defend our intellectual property rights and we are grateful that our partners in this legal action have joined together for the common cause."
"Piracy of Titan Media content will not be tolerated," said Keith Webb, vice president of Titan Media. "Unless aggressive steps are taken to stem the tide of piracy, the entire industry stands to lose billions of dollars. This suit shows our resolve and commitment to protecting our property."
With the full cooperation of all those who participated in the creation and distribution of these products, Dark Alley Media, Hot House, Jet Set Productions, Pitbull Productions, Raging Stallion Studios, Titan Media and Falcon Studios aim to aggressively protect their intellectual property rights and licenses through these actions and hopes that these lawsuits will send a clear message to other retailers and distributors that distributing counterfeit or bootleg DVDs and merchandise will not be tolerated.
Consumers and retailers are urged to contact Pitbull Productions, Inc. at [email protected] to report other retailers or distributors suspected of selling counterfeit DVDs.
