Capstone Studios Lawsuit: A Clear 2026 ISP Letter Guide

What is a Capstone Studios lawsuit, and what should I do about the letter? A Capstone Studios lawsuit is a federal copyright case filed by Capstone Studios Corp., a film production and distribution company, over alleged BitTorrent sharing of its movies. If your internet provider sent you a letter about one, you are most likely still an anonymous “John Doe,” and you have options.

This guide explains who Capstone Studios is, how a Capstone Studios lawsuit reaches your mailbox, what the letter means, and calm next steps. The consultation with Antonelli Law® is free and confidential.

Last updated November 9, 2026.

Who is Capstone Studios?

Capstone Studios Corp. is a motion picture production and distribution company. Unlike Strike 3 Holdings, which focuses on adult entertainment, Capstone Studios produces and distributes mainstream theatrical films.

Like other copyright holders in BitTorrent litigation, Capstone Studios uses monitoring technology and federal lawsuits to pursue IP addresses it says were sharing its films. It files in federal court, and its cases include both single and multi-defendant “John Doe” actions. Its enforcement program is ongoing, with cases in more than one federal district.

Capstone Studios lawsuits filed so far

As of November 9, 2026, we have confirmed seven Capstone Studios John Doe lawsuits over alleged BitTorrent sharing: three in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii and four in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. They were filed between October 13, 2025, and June 17, 2026. We list only Capstone Studios cases against John Doe defendants identified by IP address. Other court matters with “Capstone” in a party name, including unrelated companies, are not part of this list.

• 1:25-cv-00441 (Capstone Studios, Corp. v. Does, D. Haw., filed Oct. 13, 2025): early subpoena to Hawaiian Telcom granted Oct. 29, 2025; closed Feb. 23, 2026.
• 1:25-cv-03561 (Capstone Studios Corp. v. Does 1-6, D. Colo., filed Nov. 6, 2025): 6 Does; closed Sept. 15, 2026.
• 1:25-cv-03564 (Capstone Studios Corp. v. Does 1-7, D. Colo., filed Nov. 6, 2025): 7 Does; voluntarily dismissed Aug. 4, 2026.
• 1:26-cv-00532 (Capstone Studios Corp. v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.95.250.156, D. Colo., filed Feb. 10, 2026): closed Sept. 28, 2026.
• 1:26-cv-00541 (Capstone Studios Corp. v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.95.253.148, D. Colo., filed Feb. 11, 2026): closed July 28, 2026.
• 1:26-cv-00176 (Capstone Studios, Corp. v. Doe, D. Haw., filed Apr. 4, 2026): Does 1 to 15; early subpoenas to Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum granted Apr. 20, 2026; closed Sept. 16, 2026.
• 1:26-cv-00299 (Capstone Studios, Corp. v. Does 1-8, D. Haw., filed June 17, 2026): 8 Does; open.

The table shows one row per case. The IP address, city, internet provider and work come from the IP list attached to each complaint, where we have it. Links in the Docket column open the court documents. In 1:25-cv-00441, the IP addresses and cities were not obtained by publication time; the internet provider and work shown for it come from the court’s order. In 1:26-cv-00176, Exhibit 3 is the IP list.

A closed case is not the same as a paid settlement. The court record often does not say why a Doe was dismissed. An IP address identifies an internet account, not necessarily the person who used it, and the city on an IP list is an approximate location for that address. If your letter lists one of these docket numbers, it is about one of the Capstone Studios lawsuits above. We will update this page as new Capstone Studios lawsuits are filed.

What the court record shows: judges and patterns

District of Colorado: 1:25-cv-03561, 1:25-cv-03564, 1:26-cv-00532 and 1:26-cv-00541

• Judges: All four cases are assigned to Senior District Judge John L. Kane, with Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung handling pretrial matters, including the subpoena requests.
• Only the first Doe could be subpoenaed in the group cases. On January 23, 2026, Magistrate Judge Chung granted early discovery in 1:25-cv-03561 and 1:25-cv-03564 only as to Doe 1. He found that joining several Does who allegedly downloaded the work at different dates and times (“swarm joinder”) was not appropriate. The orders let the plaintiff subpoena the internet provider for Doe 1’s name and address only, and require the provider to notify the subscriber.
• Two single-Doe cases followed. The IP addresses in 1:26-cv-00541 and 1:26-cv-00532 are the same addresses listed as Does 2 and 3 in 1:25-cv-03564. Those two single-Doe cases were filed on February 10 and 11, 2026, less than three weeks after the January 23 ruling, and Magistrate Judge Chung granted an early subpoena in each on February 13, 2026.
• Old activity dates. The alleged activity for the subpoenaed Does dates from December 2023 to November 2024. According to the April 23, 2026 orders, Comcast responded that the dates were outside its 180-day log retention period for dynamically assigned IP addresses.
• Second subpoenas denied, then third requests granted. The plaintiff asked to subpoena records Comcast had produced for the same IP address in an earlier lawsuit. On April 23, 2026, Magistrate Judge Chung denied those requests without prejudice in all four Colorado cases, finding that the plaintiff had not shown Comcast still had the records. In early June 2026 (June 3, 8, 9 and 10), he granted renewed requests in all four cases after the plaintiff said Comcast still held the records under its litigation retention period and would produce them. Each June order allows a subpoena limited to the subscriber name and address Comcast had produced for the same IP address in an earlier Strike 3 Holdings lawsuit in the District of Colorado, and requires Comcast to notify the subscriber.
• The 1:26-cv-00541 caption. The April 23 and June 9, 2026 orders in 1:26-cv-00541 are headed “Boy Kills World Rights, LLC” as plaintiff, while the docket lists Capstone Studios Corp. Boy Kills World Rights, LLC describes itself in its own District of Colorado complaint (1:25-cv-03550) as an affiliate of Capstone Studios, Corp., so the court’s heading names an affiliated rights-holder company.
• All four Colorado cases are now closed.

District of Hawaii: 1:25-cv-00441, 1:26-cv-00176 and 1:26-cv-00299

• 1:26-cv-00299 (open): assigned to District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi, with Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield handling pretrial matters. The plaintiff asked for leave to subpoena internet providers on the day the case was filed, and Magistrate Judge Mansfield granted the request the next day, June 18, 2026, for Hawaiian Telcom, Verizon Wireless and Spectrum. That order is what allows providers to send letters to account holders. Exhibit 1 lists 8 IP addresses for the film Wildcat, with hit dates from December 7, 2025, to May 30, 2026, in Kihei, Honolulu, Lihue, Hilo and Kahului. The telephonic Rule 16 scheduling conference is set for January 19, 2027, at 9:30 a.m. Hawaii time.
• 1:26-cv-00176 (closed): assigned to District Judge Micah W.J. Smith, with Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. The complaint names Does 1 to 15 over the films Lioness and Wildcat. Exhibit 3 lists 15 IP addresses for Wildcat, with hit dates from November 29, 2025, to March 15, 2026. Hawaiian Telcom appears for 5 Does and Spectrum for 10. The cities are Kea‘au, Waimea, Honolulu, Lanai, Lihue, Kapolei, Kalaheo, Pearl City and Waimanalo. Magistrate Judge Porter granted early subpoenas to Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum on April 20, 2026, and the subpoenas were served the next day. Doe 4 and Doe 1 were dismissed with prejudice in June and August 2026, and the remaining Does were dismissed without prejudice on September 16, 2026.
• 1:25-cv-00441 (closed): assigned to District Judge Micah W.J. Smith, with Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. The case concerns the film Sympathy for the Devil. Magistrate Judge Porter granted an early subpoena to Hawaiian Telcom on October 29, 2025. His order gave Hawaiian Telcom 30 days to notify subscribers and gave subscribers 30 days after that to contest the subpoena in court. Doe 1 and Doe 2 were dismissed with prejudice in February 2026, and the case closed February 23, 2026.

Patterns worth knowing

• Capstone Studios files in two courts so far, Hawaii and Colorado, and it uses both single-Doe cases and cases grouping several Does.
• Judges can limit early subpoenas. In Colorado, only Doe 1 in each group case could be subpoenaed, and two other IP addresses from one group case were later sued in separate single-Doe cases.
• Timing matters. When the alleged activity is old, a provider may no longer have the logs needed to match an IP address to an account. In Colorado, the court later allowed subpoenas for subscriber information Comcast had already produced in earlier Strike 3 Holdings cases over the same IP addresses, so an earlier Strike 3 Holdings matter can resurface in a new lawsuit by a different plaintiff.
• The one open case, 1:26-cv-00299 in Hawaii, already has an order allowing provider subpoenas, so letters in that case may be going out now. Use the dates in your own letter, because each court and provider sets its own timeline.

Court documents in Capstone Studios lawsuits

These are the court documents we have for the Capstone Studios lawsuits above. Each opens as a PDF.

The complaints were not obtained by publication time. We will add them here when we have them. If you received a letter about any of these cases, you can email us a PDF or photo of it through our contact page for a free, confidential review.

How a Capstone Studios lawsuit reaches you

Most people learn about a Capstone Studios lawsuit from a letter or email sent by their internet provider. Here is the usual path from start to finish.

One point matters a lot: an IP address identifies an internet account, not necessarily the person using the connection at a particular moment. Household members, guests or others with access to the network may have been involved.

Many judges have noted that the infringer may be a family member, roommate, guest, neighbor or somebody else. One of those judges is a United States Supreme Court Justice –  Justice Sotomayor stated in Sony v. Cox Communications: “When Cox receives a copyright-violation notice, however, the notice specifies only which connection was used to infringe, not who used it to commit infringement.”

What the letter about a Capstone Studios lawsuit means

• You are most likely still anonymous. At this stage Capstone Studios usually knows only your IP address, not your name.
• It is a real court process. The letter relates to an actual federal case, so it deserves a careful read. It is not a judgment and not a finding that you did anything wrong.
• It lists a date. That is usually when your provider plans to respond to the subpoena. Use the dates on your own letter, because courts and providers set different timelines. The date gives you time to read calmly and talk with a lawyer first.

Our ISP letter guide and provider pages, such as the Comcast Xfinity letter and Verizon letter guides, explain how these notices are laid out. They are written for Strike 3 Holdings cases, but the provider notices work in a similar way.

Your options in a Capstone Studios lawsuit

For many people, a confidential settlement is the most private and predictable path. Any settlement amount depends on the facts, including the number of films alleged, your financial circumstances, and the strength of the evidence. Our flat legal fee, typically $3,000, is separate from any settlement payment and is confirmed in writing before any work begins.

If you are curious about the law behind the claims: the Copyright Act sets statutory damages from $750 to $30,000 per work, at the court’s discretion, with a higher ceiling for willful infringement. Those are legal limits, not the expected result in a Capstone Studios lawsuit, and most Capstone Studios cases resolve well below those limits.

Our experience with cases like a Capstone Studios lawsuit

Antonelli Law® focuses on federal BitTorrent copyright defense and has represented 5,000+ clients since 2010, across 50+ different copyright plaintiffs. Capstone Studios’ cases are brought by the same plaintiff-side attorney who, since 2018, has filed cases for other film companies we have defended against, including ME2 Productions, WWE Studios Finance Corp., Cook Productions and Bodyguard Productions. That history helps us explain how a Capstone Studios lawsuit typically proceeds.

We represent clients in federal courts nationwide, so where you live does not limit your options. More background is on our partner site’s guides What is Capstone Studios? and Capstone Studios lawyer.

Do I have to go to court?

Court appearances are rarely necessary in Strike 3 Holdings cases. That is not a guarantee for any one case, and Antonelli Law® also defends clients in court when that is needed or is the better path.

Calm next steps after a Capstone Studios lawsuit letter

1. Read every page. Note the case number, the court, the IP address and the date in the letter.
2. Keep every document as it is. Do not delete files, wipe devices or uninstall software.
3. Do not contact Capstone Studios or its attorneys yourself. Let a lawyer handle any communication.
4. Do not file anything in court on your own without advice. A filing you make yourself can put your name in the public record.
5. Send us the document. Email a PDF or a clear photo of the letter through our contact page, or call (312) 201-8310, for a free, confidential consultation.

Attorney Highlight: Alec Dardis

Alec Dardis is an Associate at Antonelli Law®. Born and raised in Southern California (Orange County area), he was a competitive junior tennis player and captain of the Men’s Division 1 tennis team at Colgate University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. He later received the Dean’s Scholarship to DePaul University College of Law, earned a CALI Award in Negotiations, made Dean’s List, and graduated with a Juris Doctor and a Certificate in Intellectual Property. He is licensed in Illinois and handles federal copyright matters nationwide.

In the firm’s BitTorrent practice, Alec has personally assisted hundreds of clients with cases involving copyright holders, including Strike 3 Holdings. He handles the consultation, the reading of the letter, settlement talks when that is what the client wants, and court defense when that is the better path.

Phone: (312) 201-8310. Email: adardis@antonelli-law.com.

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Frequently asked questions

Who is Capstone Studios?

Capstone Studios Corp. is a motion picture production and distribution company. It produces and distributes mainstream theatrical films, not adult content, and it enforces its copyrights through federal lawsuits over BitTorrent sharing.

Does a Capstone Studios lawsuit letter mean I have been sued by name?

No. A Capstone Studios lawsuit usually starts against a “John Doe” identified only by an IP address. The letter from your internet provider tells you that Capstone Studios has asked for the name and address on the account.

Is a Capstone Studios lawsuit the same as a Strike 3 Holdings case?

No. They are different plaintiffs. Strike 3 Holdings focuses on adult films, while Capstone Studios produces mainstream theatrical films. The process is similar: monitoring software, a John Doe lawsuit, and a subpoena to the internet provider.

What if someone else used my internet connection?

That happens. An IP address identifies an internet account, not necessarily the person using it at a given moment. Household members, guests or others on the network may have been involved, and that can matter when we review your options.

Do I have to go to court?

Court appearances are rarely necessary in Strike 3 Holdings cases. That is not a guarantee for any one case, and Antonelli Law® also defends clients in court when that is needed or is the better path.

How do I send you my Capstone Studios letter?

Email a PDF or a clear photo of the letter and any court document through our contact page, or call (312) 201-8310. The consultation is free and confidential.

Related reading

• ISP letter guide
• Should I ignore a subpoena letter?
• Spectrum subpoena notices
• How ME2 Productions obtains your name from an IP address
• What is Capstone Studios? (Antonelli Law®)
• Capstone Studios lawyer (Antonelli Law®)

This page is general information about Capstone Studios, Strike 3 Holdings and similar BitTorrent copyright cases. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Client reviews describe individual experiences. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Antonelli Law® defends people and businesses against copyright claims and does not represent copyright holders. Attorney advertising. Information is current as of November 9, 2026.

TORRENT DEFENDERS® is a federally registered trademark owned exclusively by the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Antonelli, Ltd. dba Antonelli Law®.