LOS ANGELES, CA — Sara Sazzman may not have launched a thousand ships, but she sure has roiled the seas under the biggest freighters in the adult industry trade magazine publishing biz.AVN Media Network, publisher of the 27-year-old “adult industry Bible” Adult Video News, has filed suit against upstart rival XBIZ and Sazzman, an advertising sales executive who recently jumped ship from AVN to XBIZ. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition and seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.
XBIZ and Sazzman were served with court documents on Tuesday, according to a report at XBIZ’s website, which broke the news.
“Clearly AVN is trying to tarnish XBIZ’s reputation to stem the tide of its diminishing market share,” an unnamed XBIZ attorney stated in the XBIZ report, which noted that XBIZ “plans to vigorously defend itself against the charges.”
AVN founder and President Paul Fishbein told YNOT his company would have no comment beyond “the lawsuit speaks for itself, and I am confident that we will prevail in a court of law.”
XBIZ founder and President Alec Helmy referred YNOT to the report posted on the XBIZ website.
Attorney Michael Fattorosi, who represents Sazzman, was unavailable for comment at press time.
