Flava Works Wins $350,000 in Pair of Piracy Judgments
YNOT – A U.S. District Court in Chicago has awarded gay adult studio Flava Works more than $350,000 in a pair of default judgments against two former social networks the studio accused of encouraging users to engage in unauthorized sharing of copyrighted content.The court ordered Taron Wyche and his company DGSource.com — doing business as Gairoo.com, LookLurk.com and Lil Giant Productions — to pay $301,320 in damages and legal fees. In addition, the judge granted a permanent injunction against future infringement.
The second lawsuit saw an award of $52,451.75 levied against Rod Hughes, Honey Wood and their company, IStackPorn.net.
Only the blog Gairoo.com remains online.
“For too long, torrent and tube sites have been pilfering the sites of hardworking adult entertainment companies, and the time has come to shut them down,” said Flava Works Chief Executive Officer Phillip Bleicher. “Until recently, only a handful of adult content producers have bothered to take serious legal action against these blatant infringers. Today, Flava Works has declared that it will be joining the ranks of these brave and committed few, while encouraging others to follow suit so that we may hopefully all join forces soon to shut these pirates down for good.”
Bleicher said his studio has expanded its legal team from two to four attorneys to handle lawsuits it plans to file against other suspected infringers in the near future. Attorneys Meanith Huon and Jonathan Warrick joined Jesse Lanshe in Chicago and Mirta Desir in Miami, respectively. The team already has begun working on new cases based on consumer tips.
“It is unfair that an honest consumer like me has to pay to enjoy services such as Cocodorm.com while [the pirates are] ripping everyone else off,” one Flava Works fan told the studio in an email.