![\"YTS](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ytslogo.jpg\")
Two years ago, Hawaiian anti-piracy lawyer Kerry Culpepper turned some of the most popular piracy brands into a powerful anti-piracy tool.<\/p>\nTwo years ago, Hawaiian anti-piracy lawyer Kerry Culpepper turned some of the most popular piracy brands into a powerful anti-piracy tool.<\/p>\n
The attorney, who is listed as director of the company \u201942 Ventures,\u2019 registered several piracy-related trademarks, including \u2018YTS\u2019 and \u2018Popcorn Time.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The company, which was founded a year earlier, legally claimed these marks and uses them on a website that doesn\u2019t draw any significant traffic. What did get people\u2019s attention, however, were the enforcement actions that followed.<\/p>\n Shortly after the trademarks were granted, Culpepper managed to suspend the Twitter account<\/a> of a popular Popcorn Time fork. He offered to return it in exchange for a Popcorn Time licensing deal, which failed.<\/p>\n In addition, the attorney also filed a YTS trademark infringement lawsuit<\/a> on behalf of 42 Ventures. The complaint, filed at a Hawaii federal court, targeted the operators of yst.lt, ytsag.me, yts.ae, ytsmovies.cc, and yts.ms, plus apps such as \u201cY Movies,\u201d \u201cYTS Movies Library\u201d and \u201cYTS movies.\u201d<\/p>\n The people behind these sites, who are believed to be from India, China and Egypt, used the YTS brand as a promotional tool. This isn\u2019t uncommon, as YTS has been a popular pirate brand for years. After originally belonging to a long-defunct release group, others now use it to lure in pirates.<\/p>\n As the lawsuit progressed, several defendants chose to settle the matter under undisclosed terms. Three others failed to respond completely, however, which prompted 42 Ventures to request $250,000 default judgments against all of the remaining defendants. <\/p>\n This didn\u2019t go as smoothly as the trademark owner would have hoped. While there was no doubt that the YTS sites and apps used the trademark without permission, the Hawaiian federal court concluded that it didn\u2019t have jurisdiction<\/a> over the foreign defendants. <\/p>\n In an order issued nearly two years ago, Judge Watson wrote that the defendants\u2019 connections with US-based services including Cloudflare, Amazon, and Namecheap, don\u2019t prove that the site and app operators subjected themselves to US jurisdiction. As such, the case was dismissed. <\/p>\n Attorney Kerry Culpepper didn\u2019t give up. On behalf of 42 Ventures, he appealed the District Court\u2019s decision and won. The Ninth Circuit court granted him the option to amend the original complaint to address the jurisdiction shortcomings. <\/p>\n According to the appeals court, jurisdiction can be invoked if the defendants deliberately use US-based servers to improve speeds for US visitors.<\/p>\n \u201c[D]eliberately choosing servers in the United States to enable faster service to U.S.-based customers could indicate purposeful direction to the United States,\u201d the Ninth Circuit Court wrote.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the case went back to the Hawaii District Court where an amended complaint was filed. The court looked at the issue again and, a few days ago, this resulted in a clear win for 42 Ventures. <\/p>\n The order, released by Hawaii District Court Judge Derrick Watson, adopts the report and recommendations issued by Magistrate Judge Wes Porter last month and concludes the court has jurisdiction.<\/p>\n After reviewing all the arguments, which also cite a recent appeals court jurisdiction decision<\/a> in the case against the Pakistani owner of the defunct torrent site MKVCage, the court agrees that default judgments can be issued against the three defendants.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on Plaintiff\u2019s allegations that Defendants have chosen to host their infringing websites and apps on servers located in the United States, and these websites and apps use or display Plaintiff\u2019s YTS mark in connection with Defendants\u2019 goods and services, the Court finds Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged Defendants\u2019 tortious actions occurred in the United States. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is underscored by the allegations that Defendants also distribute pirated copies of motion pictures with file names that include Plaintiff\u2019s mark to individuals in the United States,\u201d Magistrate Judge Wes Porter adds.<\/p>\n In addition to showing that the actions took place in the United States, 42 Ventures also showed that this wasn\u2019t a mere coincidence. The defendants specifically used US-based services to improve speed and accessibility, the company asaid.<\/p>\n As compensation for its alleged losses, 42 Ventures requested $250,000 from defendant Mav, and $2 million from Shan and Azzan. Ruling on this request, the court agrees that a meaningful statutory damages award is appropriate. <\/p>\n After weighing the pros and cons, Magistrate Judge Wes Porter decided that a $250,000 trademark infringement damages award against each defendant is appropriate here. That brings total damages to $750,000.<\/p>\n In addition, Judge Porter also approved a permanent injunction that prohibits defendants Shan and Azzan from using the YTS trademark going forward. An injunction against defendant Mav is not needed, as he has already shut down the YTS.MS website previously.<\/p>\n \u2014-<\/em><\/p>\n All the Magistrate\u2019s recommendations (pdf)<\/a> were taken over by District Court Judge Derrick Watson late last week. That order is available here (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nYTS Trademark Enforcement<\/h2>\n
Case Dismissed<\/h2>\n
Appeal and Do-over<\/h2>\n
Foreign Defendants Can be Sued<\/h2>\n
3X $250,000 YTS Trademark Infringement Damages<\/h2>\n