A federal court in Seattle has issued a default judgment in favour of Amazon and studio plaintiffs Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros and HBO in a joint action targeting an international counterfeiting operation that sold fake DVDs on Amazon. The ruling grants all requested relief—including more than $7.5 million (€6.5m) in statutory damages and broad injunctive measures. Anti-piracy coalition the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit supported the underlying investigation.

The lawsuit focused on 22 individuals who used Amazon selling accounts to distribute counterfeit and infringing DVDs, violating the studio plaintiffs’ copyrights and trademarks and Amazon’s policies that require selling partners to only list legitimate and authentic products in the store.

“Today’s ruling delivers a powerful message of resilience, persistence, and determination: we will never stop fighting to protect the rights, creativity, intellectual property, and livelihoods of the artists, craftspeople, and storytellers at the heart of our industry,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE. “Our alliance and our studios, will leave no stone unturned in deterring, dismantling, and defeating criminal piracy everywhere – and this case in which we worked with Amazon is a clear-eyed measure of our commitment to keep that promise and preserve a vibrant marketplace for creators and consumers in the US and across the globe.”

The court found each defendant individually liable, awarding statutory damages that ranged from thousands to over $1 million per defendant. In addition to monetary relief, the court entered a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from selling counterfeit or infringing products in Amazon’s stores.

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Categories: Articles, Business, Content, Piracy, Policy, Portable Media, Regulation, Rights

Tags: ACE, Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, Amazon, Charles Rivkin, DVDs, Motion Picture Association