Thread: Hollywood Sues Advertiser at Movie Piracy Sites

A company that worked with sites that linked to copies of Hollywood blockbusters has become the target of a new lawsuit. The legal action filed by Disney and Warner Bros. says that Triton Media was guilty of both contributory and inducement of copyright infringement when it assisted several sites with advertising and referrals.

There have been many innovative anti-piracy strategies over the years, from simple scare tactics to high profile hammer-blow aggression, from ISP pressure to the more recent attempts at domain name seizure. This week, a new tactic has been witnessed in the United States – an attack on those who provide financing for file-sharing venues – the advertisers.



In a complaint dated 23rd August and filed in the U.S. District Court in California, movie giants Disney and Warner Bros revealed their intention to go after Triton Media, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company they claim “owned, operated, provided advertising consulting and referrals for, and/or provided other material assistance” to nine movie-centric sites.

The sites – freetv-video-online.info, supernovatube.corn, donogo.com, watch-movies.net, watchmovies-online.tv, watch-movies-links.net, havenvideo.com and thepiratecity.org – are said to have a primary purpose to provide “their users access to content that has been unlawfully reproduced, distributed, publicly performed, and/or publicly displayed.”

The content listed includes Ratatouille and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for Disney, and The Bucket List, Fool’s Gold and Smallville for Warner Bros.

While the majority of the sites listed above merely offered links to Disney and Warner movies, the lawsuit states that two – supernovatube and donogo – are sites that actually stored the plaintiffs’ movies. Interestingly it states that donogo (currently offline) was actually owned and operated by Triton Media. Readers will recall that thepiratecity.org recently had its domain name seized as part of the FBI-run Operation In Our Sites.

The lawsuit states that Triton Media is guilty of both contributory copyright infringement and induced copyright infringement and as such the plaintiffs “are entitled to the maximum statutory damages as permitted by federal copyright law”.

Although details are scarce at the moment, the part that Triton played in the sites’ operation will prove key in this case. Definitely one to watch in the months to come, as the implications for other US-based advertisers could be huge.

Source: Hollywood Sues Advertiser at Movie Piracy Sites | TorrentFreak

interesting new tactic targeted at all those revenue making ads...I'd say its a long shot. What is next? maybe they could try suing monitor producers, because they display their movies. :001_tongue:

Well, it's interesting all right. I wonder what Warner and Disney are suing for, though? Do they want actual damages, or do they want Triton Media to stop accepting shady ads? (Not that I think the ads are actually shady; I'm just trying to look at from Disney's point of view.) I can't see this holding up in court--last time I looked, you couldn't sue a torrent site, because they weren't hosting the files, just telling you where to go to get them. well, Triton Media are even farther removed than that! All they're doing is accepting money from people, who want to run an ad, which informs people that a certain site exists, which hosts illegal files.

So like I said, I doubt this will hold up in court--but I can see Triton Media agreeing not to run shady ads any more, just to avoid being dragged into court by two media giants.

this will be an endless battle isn't it?? its interesting to watch u know these guys fighting over something that can never be stopped..i do not believe that nobody can stop these things as long as the internet is there..the day the internet stops is the day Hollywood will win

nobody will ever defeat the scene
it's one person against thousands

there's a pizza place in my town that has amazing pizza, and they also have a projection screen that they play almost exclusively disney movies on. maybe Disney should look into that cause i know they don't have a commercial license for those movies.

In my opinion the only reason why piracy thrives so well today is because of the MPAA and the RIAA.

I mean seriously, the more you make an issue out of something the more people will flock to it. Need we be reminded of the early days of napster?

I honestly believe that had the issue of napster not occurred piracy today would not be as big as it is now (although I doubt it's big anyways). My reason for getting into this scene initially was when the whole ordeal came about with copying DVDs.

If I own it I should have the right to do as I see fit plain and simple. Although in hindsight I am thankful for it, had it never occurred I serious doubt I would be in this world, let alone this wonderful site.

Its amusing that Disney/Warner even think they can stunt piracy. Whenever one site goes down another will pop up to replace it.

What they need to realize is that piracy is a natural part of a wired globe--they simply need to find a way to embrace pirates or lose their money. They should post their own videos online with advertisements/donation links. Otherwise someone else will.

I just wonder when they will understand. Piracy has existed for a very long time, just in different scenarios. They will never be able to rid the issue. Mankind love to strive for the unknown, the things you aren't allowed to do.

I just find it offensive that I don't have the right to rip my own bought movies and give it away to a couple of friends. I bought it, perhaps not the rights to the film, but should that matter? Why fight a fight you'll never win?