XPays has named several prominent adult industry players in a suit filed Monday accusing the defendants of copyright and trademark infringement of the so-called Paris Hilton sex tape.
Claiming sole ownership of the Hilton video, XPays alleges the defendants – including CelebrityCash parent company ICG Entertainment, SK Intertainment Inc. (operatorsof MrSkin.com), affiliate program FlashCash, Adult Profit (and its site FreeCelebrityMovieArchive), and billing company Verotel, which is the processor for celebrity site CelebsUnzipped, among others – knowingly violated copyright and trademark laws by using stills derived from the video on their sites' tours in order to lure customers.
In the court documents, which were obtained Monday afternoon from XPays counsel Paul S. Berra, the company claims that "[i]n addition to losing revenues from the unlawful sales of the video, XPays has been substantially damaged in the marketplace by the confusion regarding the rights to the video caused thereby."
All defendants are accused of copyright infringement, violations of the Lanham Act, and unfair competition, among other things. Additionally, XPays seeks punitive damages from ICG for libel, claiming ICG representatives made false statements about XPays on popular webmaster board GoFuckYourself.com. In all, XPays seeks damages amounting to more than $1 million.
The suit follows a similar one that was filed in 2004 by Rick Soloman, Hilton's co-star in the sex tape and the man who sold Internet rights to Xpays, against a number of website owners. According to Berra, it will not be the last.
"This lawsuit is only the start of stopping the widespread infringement of the rights in the Paris Hilton sex video," Berra tells AVNOnline.com. "XPays intends to continue seeking out those who refuse to honor its well-established rights."
Defendants, who had not been served with the suit at press time, were not available for comment.
To view a pdf of the court filing, " target="_new"\n > click here.
