Lawyers Involved in US Copyright Trolling Case Sanctioned

In scathing reasons, Judge Wright of the US District Court for the Central District of California ordered sanctions against the plaintiffs, (whom he characterized as a “porno-trolling collective”), and several lawyers associated with the plaintiffs in a case that involved a number of plaintiffs and associated parties and has generally been referred to as the “Prenda case” in the media, although the style of cause is Ingenuity 13 LLC v John Doe. Apparently, with minimal evidence, the plaintiffs threatened to sue thousands of people who had allegedly downloaded a pornographic film owned by the plaintiffs. They generally offered to settle for $4000, a sum that Judge Wright reckoned was “calculated to be just below the cost of a bare-bones defense”. This brought in proceeds in the millions of dollars for the plaintiffs. In cases that they pursued in court, the plaintiffs were found to have provided minimal evidence of actual infringement, and in one case, the judge characterized evidence of downloading as a “blatant lie”. In addition to applying a “punitive multiplier” for the plaintiffs’ “brazen misconduct and relentless fraud”, Judge Wright referred several lawyers involved to their state bar associations, as well as to the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and stated that he will also notify all judges before whom these lawyers have pending cases. Star Trek fans will also appreciate Judge Wright’s several references to Star Trek, such as “though Plaintiffs boldly probe the outskirts of law, the only enterprise they resemble is RICO” (“RICO” referring to the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act”). Summary by: Tom Feather