Advanced Television

Studios move against Hotfile

February 9, 2011

Five of the major motion picture studios in the US have launched the next phase of their ongoing campaign against against Hotfile.com, a so-called cyberlocker service that allows its is based on strong market drivers such as the multiplication of cusers to share and store large media files on its servers.

The lawsuit claims damages of the maximum allowable amount of $150,000 per work infringed.

The studios — Columbia Pictures, Disney, Twentieth Centruy Fox, Universal City Studios, and Warner Brothers — charge that Hotfile’s business model is to encourage people to upload as much copyrighted content as possible and then to make money off of downloaders by offering them memberships that would provide them faster downloads of the copyrighted material.

“In less than two years Hotfile has become one of the 100 most trafficked sites in the world.  That is a direct result of the massive digital theft that Hotfile promotes.  Everyday Hotfile is responsible for the theft of thousands of MPAA member companies’ movies and TV shows – including movies still playing in theaters – many of which are stolen repeatedly, thousands of times a day, every single day,” said Daniel Mandil, general counsel & chief content protection officer for the MPAA.

Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy