Malibu Media: The Story Behind the Lawsuits
This is the Antonelli Law blog dedicated to copyright infringement cases. We’ve represented nearly 2,000 clients across the US and are America’s most experienced BT copyright defense firm. For more information about your Malibu Media lawsuit, visit our Malibu Media page.
Malibu Media has filed thousands of copyright infringement lawsuits in recent years.
Malibu Media is an adult film production company that distributes their adult content through the website X-art.com.
Why is Malibu Media Filing These Lawsuits?
Malibu Media’s website, X-art.com, utilizes a subscription model, so users can access X-art.com’s adult content through their monthly paid subscription.
For a number of years the company had experienced a steady rise in the number of subscribers it received- however this number has slowly begun to decline in recent years. This decline sparked an investigation by the couple who owns Malibu Media, the Fields, as to why the number of subscribers had stopped growing.
According to The New Yorker, “The Fields hired an outside company to investigate whether people were watching their films without paying. They concluded that each month, three hundred thousand people were watching pirated versions of their movies—including eighty thousand in the U.S. ‘We felt like we had to do something,’ Mrs. Fields said. ‘I don’t want to wake up in five years and have everything be free.’”
Malibu Media has become one of the biggest filers of copyright infringement lawsuits in the nation. Subsequently some judges may question whether the company’s motive is to deter piracy or make money. Ben Depoorter, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, said, “If you’re filing three lawsuits per day, that very much looks like an abusive model. Some judges may say this looks like a business model.”
If You’re One of the Thousands That Has Been Sued by Malibu Media:
If you’ve received a subpoena from your ISP notifying you of a Malibu Media lawsuit, there are a few options.
- Resolve anonymously: If you settle the case through an experienced law firm like Antonelli Law you will be able to make a payment anonymously before your ISP releases your name. Antonelli Law will also protect you from Malibu Media attempting to obtain any future payments for supposed download activity that occurred prior to the settlement date.
- File a motion to quash: With a motion to quash you are trying to prove to the judge that the lawsuit against you has no merit.
- Fight it in court: You may lose your anonymity with this option, but you have the potential to win the case and receive damages which include legal fees. If this is the right choice for you contact an experienced and tenacious law firm like Antonelli Law to fight back for you.
Which option is best for you? Each Malibu Media case is unique.
Contact us for a free, anonymous consultation with one of our ISP subpoena defense specialists: 312-201-8310
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About Author
JAntonelli
Jeffrey Antonelli is a member of the federal trial bar of the Northern District of Illinois and is admitted to numerous federal courts around the country. He has been a civil litigator nearly 25 years in a broad range of actions representing corporations and individuals as plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal court. Jeffrey has been interviewed by the media many times, including Bloomberg BNA, NBC, The New York Times, Chicago Lawyer, Chicago Tribune, and the longstanding lawyer’s publication Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Prior to forming Antonelli Law Ltd. in 2007 Jeffrey worked for several litigation boutiques in Chicago’s Loop as well as a full service firm. His litigation experience includes hotly contested issues in intellectual property, business, insurance, and consumer fraud. He is an adviser to the Illinois Board of Higher Education Advisory Council for Private Business and Vocational Schools (PBVS), and was a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Education Law Section Council from 2012-2013. Jeffrey is especially proud of his work representing hundreds of students defrauded by improperly accredited educational institutions, including as certified class counsel. Before attending law school, Jeffrey was interested first in business, and then in biomedical ethics. These interests led him to graduate from the nation’s largest philosophy department at Loyola University in Chicago, where some of his favorite (and most challenging) subjects were cognitive science and philosophy of science. During college he held positions at the University of Chicago’s Ben May Institute; as a medical assistant for a University of Chicago foot and ankle surgeon; and volunteered in the emergency room at the University of Chicago Hospitals. These experiences led to studying health law at the DePaul College of Law where Jeffrey earned his law degree and a certificate in health law. At that time DePaul’s Institute for Health Law was consistently ranked in the top 10 health law specialty programs nationwide. During law school Jeffrey immersed himself in studying the practical and public policy aspects of health care through internships at the American Medical Association in Chicago, and on Capitol Hill at the Governmental Relations Office of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, DC. Jeffrey has concentrated in civil litigation throughout his legal career, and is a member of the federal trial bar of the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois federal court, and all federal courts of Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. In addition, he is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. Jeffrey prides himself on his strong personal ideals, passionate, ethical advocacy, and working hard to bring the best possible results for his clients. He also maintains a special interest in cases involving fraud. Whether due to good parenting, his family’s law enforcement employment, undergraduate studies in philosophy including ethics, or a fortuitous outcome of good breeding, one essence of Jeffrey’s character is a drive to root out the truth behind fraudulent practices.