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Tag Archives: Voltage Pictures

Voltage Pictures starts 2015 with 6 more BitTorrent Lawsuits

02 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

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BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, John V. Acosta, Litigation Update, State Trademark, Voltage Pictures

Voltage Pictures started off 2015 with 6 more BitTorrent cases alleging unauthorized downloading of Dallas Buyers Club. Each lawsuit is against a single Doe with claims of copyright infringement, indirect infringement and state trademark infringement.

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00001
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00002
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00003
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00004
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00005
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00006
File Date: Thursday, January 01, 2015
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Voltage Pictures Files ANOTHER Five Lawsuits Against Individual Does

24 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark

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BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, John V. Acosta, State Trademark, Voltage Pictures

Two weeks after filing five lawsuits, Voltage Pictures is back with another batch of five BitTorrent cases alleging unauthorized downloading of Dallas Buyers Club. Each lawsuit is against a single Doe with claims of copyright infringement, indirect infringement and state trademark infringement.

Voltage Pictures LLC et al v. Doe

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01871-AC
File Date: Saturday, November 22, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01872-AC
File Date: Saturday, November 22, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01873-AC
File Date: Saturday, November 22, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01874-AC
File Date: Saturday, November 22, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01875-AC
File Date: Saturday, November 22, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Voltage Pictures Files Five More Lawsuits Against Individual Does

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

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BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Dennis J. Hubel, Indirect Infringement, John V. Acosta, Litigation Update, Marco A. Hernandez, Paul Papak, State Trademark, Thomas M. Coffin, Voltage Pictures

People of Oregon, stop using BitTorrent to download Dallas Buyers Club!

Voltage Pictures returns with five more BitTorrent lawsuits alleging unauthorized downloading of the film. Each lawsuit is against a single Doe with claims of copyright infringement, indirect infringement and state trademark infringement.

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01780
File Date: Saturday, November 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Paul Papak

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01781
File Date: Saturday, November 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Dennis J. Hubel

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-01782
File Date: Saturday, November 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Marco A. Hernandez

Court Case Number: 6:14-cv-01783-TC
File Date: Saturday, November 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Court Case Number: 6:14-cv-01784-TC
File Date: Saturday, November 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures LLC, Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement, State Trademark
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: John V. Acosta

Representative Complaint:

View this document on Scribd

Oregon Copyright Litigation Update – Voltage Pictures v. Doe Adult Son

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

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BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Michael H. Simon, Voltage Pictures

Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Doe Adult Son

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00867-SI
File Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe Adult Son
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Michael H. Simon

View this document on Scribd

 

See other Oregon Download Cases.

Oregon Copyright Litigation Update – Voltage Pictures v. Jim Choi

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

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BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Maximum Conviction, Michael W. Mosman, Voltage Pictures

Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Jim Choi

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00855-MO
File Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Jim Choi
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Michael W. Mosman

View this document on Scribd

See other Oregon Download Cases.

Oregon Copyright Litigation Update – Voltage Pictures v. Doe IP 76.115.46.230

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Anna J. Brown, BitTorrent, Copyright Infringement, Voltage Pictures

Apparently undaunted by the previous mass dismissals, Voltage Pictures has moved forward with their BitTorrent litigation strategy by filing a copyright infringement action against a single IP address. I’m reluctant to forecast Voltage Pictures’ next move, but I suspect this is a test case that, if financially successful, will result in hundreds of individual filings.

[Update: A commenter has informed that the Defendant in this case was one of the first to respond with a Motion to Quash in one of the original Voltage Pictures cases, 3:13-cv-00295-AC. The Defendant, represented by Swider Medeiros Haver LLP, was released from that case as a part of the mass dismissals undertaken last week by Judge Aiken.]

Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Doe IP 76.115.46.230

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00836-BR
File Date: Friday, May 17, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe IP 76.115.46.230
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Judge: Judge Anna J. Brown

View this document on Scribd

See other Oregon Download Cases.

Judge Challenges Voltage Pictures’ Litigation Strategy, Voltage Responds

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Litigation, Oregon

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Ann L. Aiken, BitTorrent, Voltage Pictures

Well, that didn’t take long. Just a few weeks after an Ohio judge expressed skepticism about Voltage Pictures’ litigation strategy in the download cases, Oregon Judge Ann Aiken has expressed similar concerns. However, rather than directly severing the hundreds of cases, Judge Aiken has issued an “Order to Show Cause,” allowing Voltage to respond to these issues.   The full Order (see below) is only six pages, but here are a few excerpts:

…the court is mindful of the growing popularity of copyright holders to use courts as tool for identifying alleged infringers as a means to seek quick settlements without actually litigating the cases in court. The failure to amend the complaints in these cases leads the court to suspect that plaintiff in this case may be seeking to use the this court in such a manner while keeping the litigation costs to minimum.

In addition to showing cause as to why the cases should not be dismissed for failure to follow a court order, plaintiff is ordered to show cause why defendants should not be severed and plaintiff required to pay the requisite filing fees to pursue a case against each individual defendant.

View this document on Scribd

Voltage Pictures responded over the weekend with the following Response to Order to Show Cause (and accompanying Declaration of Counsel):

View this document on Scribd
View this document on Scribd

Voltage Pictures hits a roadblock in Ohio court

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Litigation, Oregon

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Voltage Pictures

Voltage Pictures, the Plaintiff in several Oregon download cases, has met a roadblock in Ohio federal court in the form of Judge James S. Gwin. Judge Gwin ordered, sua sponte, that Voltage Pictures had improperly joined hundreds of Defendants. The Judge has severed the cases, requiring Voltage to pay appropriate filing fees in order to continue. Here are some highlights and the full Opinion & Order is below:

Because IP addresses are the only identifiers of peers within a BitTorrent system, it is difficult, if not impossible, to learn the true identities of the peers in a swarm.21 To pursue litigation, plaintiffs in BitTorrent suits must attempt to get early discovery to learn of the actual identities of the unnamed defendants.22 The requests have been the subject of much criticism, for the lawsuits are rarely litigated. Rather, plaintiffs seek to take advantage of the resources of federal courts to force small, individual settlements.23

Courts have been troubled by what amounts to be a new business model employed by production companies “misusing the subpoena powers of the court, seeking the identities of the Doe defendants solely to facilitate demand letters and  coerce settlement, rather than ultimately serve process and litigate the claims.”41 This unseemly practice is made worse by the frequent practice of joining hundreds or thousands of defendants in a suit, saving plaintiffs tens of thousands of dollars in filing fees. It is in this environment where courts must take every caution to ensure that the keys to the doors of discovery are not blithely given to parties with other intentions.

Regardless of the dubious practices of others, Plaintiffs may have legitimate claims which deserve litigation. Nevertheless, unnamed Defendants are improperly joined, and in order to continue with their actions, Plaintiffs will need to pay the requisite filing fee per suit.42 Otherwise, Plaintiff has saved over $67,500 by consolidating its claims into four separate actions. If Plaintiffs seek to use the powers of this Court to vindicate its rights, it must pay the requisite fees like every other Plaintiff.

Time will tell if Oregon will make a similar ruling, which essentially shifts some of the financial burden for these download cases from the taxpayer to the Plaintiff.

Opinion & Order, James S. Gwin, United States District Judge:

View this document on Scribd

List of Oregon Download Cases – 2013/14

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Privacy, Social Media

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

BitTorrent, Elf-Man, RynoRyder Productions, The Thompsons Film, Voltage Pictures

This is a comprehensive list of Oregon download cases. Follow the links to individual case details. This post will be updated as new cases are filed.

  1. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Does 1 – 371
  2. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Does 1 – 198
  3. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Does 1 – 12
  4. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Does 1 – 34
  5. Elf-Man, LLC v. Does 1 – 57
  6. Elf-Man, LLC v. Does 1 – 16
  7. Elf-Man, LLC v. Does 1 – 107
  8. The Thompsons Film, LLC v. Does 1 – 155
  9. RynoRyder Productions, Inc. v. Does 1 – 23
  10. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Doe IP 76.115.46.230
  11. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Jim Choi
  12. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Doe Adult Son
  13. Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Does 1-50

Last update: 4/30/14

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