San Diego-based gay adult studio Corbin Fisher is planning a series of antipiracy lawsuits, yet the company is offering amnesty for a limited time to those who have been illegally sharing its content online.
In a statement to the press, Corbin Fisher said any individual who has been illegally uploading, downloading or torrent-sharing its material can settle the claims against them for a one-time payment of $1,000. The grace period ends Feb. 8. Participants will be immune to any legal action for content infringement that occurred before the date of their settlement.
“Despite the fact that these people are stealing from us, we wanted to give them a chance to admit their mistakes and move on,” said Brian Dunlap, Corbin Fisher’s COO. “Therefore, we are offering this limited period where we will resolve these cases quickly and cheaply.”
All those settling will be given a year’s membership at Corbin Fisher’s premier online adult content sites, amateurcollegemen.com and amateurcollegesex.com.
“We wanted to really give people a chance to not be sued,” Marc Randazza, Corbin Fisher’s General Counsel, told San Diego LGBT Weekly. “We decided to put out the word: if you contact us, then we’ll give you a very good deal.”
Randazza said torrent users can be liable for up to $150,000 in damages for each infringement, if a suit is taken to court. The company has won millions of dollars in court judgments in the past year, including a recent $250,000 judgment against a single torrent user.
A list of thousands of users has already been provided to Corbin Fisher by an independent research group, and all of these users will be targeted in the first wave of lawsuits. Randazza said the list includes about 500-600 users in San Diego.
With every 1,000 DVDs that are sold legally, Randazza said the same video is illegally shared online approximately 50,000 times. “It’s a nasty business when you have to go after these people,” he said, “but we have tried to find a way to do it in the nicest possible way.”
Email amnesty@corbinfisher.com to apply for the amnesty settlement.
