YNOT – Vivid Entertainment LLC has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Phoenix-based Internet Commerce Group Inc. The suit, filed Sept. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges at least 10 violations of intellectual property law and seeks $1.2 million in statutory damages.According to documents filed with the court, ICG has exploited unlicensed Vivid videos for profit through at least three websites operated by ICG: FemaleStars.com, iCelebOnline.com and CelebrityHardcore.com. ICG promotes the sites through its affiliate program, Celebrity Cash.
The alleged infringement has been going on for a minimum of two years, according to the lawsuit. Vivid claims that in 2009, ICG provided website members unlicensed viewing of two Vivid movies, The Jimi Hendrix Sex Tape and Kim Kardashian Superstar. The infringement continued in 2010, according to the suit, when ICG posted to its sites unlicensed copies of movies including Faithless, Karrine Steffans Superhead and Vince Neil and Janine — Hardcore and Uncensored.
“This is the first of many lawsuits we are prepared to file, and we expect to prevail in all of them,” said Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch. “We spend millions of dollars to promote our content, and we’re not going to let illegal users profit at our expense.”
The Vivid lawsuit represents the second time in less than 30 days ICG has been sued for copyright infringement. On Aug. 30, Falcon Foto filed suit in a Los Angeles federal court naming both ICG and Domain Management Services as defendants. According to Falcon’s complaint, ICG violated Falcon’s intellectual property rights in more than “100 unique instances” involving Falcon’s 2005 release of a sex tape featuring Hollywood actor Tom Sizemore.
