VAN NUYS, CA — In an emphatic email distributed today by Evil Angel representative Karen Stagliano, using her Tricia Devereaux stage name account, company owner John Stagliano and director Ashley Gasper took strong issue with comments previously circulated by convicted video pirate Alain Elmaleh. Award winner Gasper, who performs and directs under the name of Jules Jordan, recently went to court with Evil Angel and Jules Jordan Video, his own production company, to defend against illegal reproduction of copyrighted material, trademark infringement, and violation of the director’s “right to publicity.” A jury unanimously found Elmaleh, Kaytel, and Leisure Time Canada guilty of these charges last month.
According to the message, Elmaleh has prematurely declared his upcoming victory in a still-pending federal lawsuit; something the duo calls a “hope springs eternal” example of Elmaleh being “a victim of his own greed.”
While Elmaleh and company claim that the responsibility for the pirated goods rests with the employees who did the actual copying, the court presented documentation and testimony to show that Kaytel had profited by the venture, resulting in a $16 million award for damages, including punitive damages, against each defendant. However, the plaintiffs observe in their email that Elmaleh has claimed that the “judge OVERRULED the jury’s verdict, an exaggeration of the actual events, which involved an overturning of some copyright claims on what is said to be “highly technical legal grounds.”
Stagliano and Gasper speculate that while their attorneys traced the illegal money and production trail, Elmaleh “knew he was caught red handed, and fled the country before the jury could return a verdict.” The men anticipate that the currently overturned copyright issues will be reversed and do not expect trouble from a threatened “multi multi multi million dollar lawsuit,” pointing out that the man has recently settled similar issues with Avenue A’s Andrew Blake and been on the losing side of a court case concerning the unauthorized Canadian duplication of a number of classic Mitchell Brothers’ titles.
The famous director/producers sum up their missive by pointing out to others in the industry that this fight is as much theirs as Evil Angel’s. “We all have a common interest in stopping this kind of blatantly illegal conduct,” they observe, later warning would-be thieves that they “will continue to prosecute any company, to the fullest extent of the law, that we find infringing on our rights.”
