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Strike 3 Holdings filed a record more than 2,788 lawsuits against suspected BitTorrent pirates in US courts this year. The adult entertainment company has little 'competition' with other rights holders and is responsible for the vast majority of piracy lawsuits filed in the US this year.
By now, most BitTorrent users should know that their IP addresses and downloads can be easily monitored.
This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of lawsuits against alleged video pirates, both in the US and abroad.
In the US, most of these cases are filed by Strike 3 Holdings. The company produces adult entertainment videos available through the Blacked, Tushy, and Vixen websites. When videos are shared on pirate sites, Strike 3 takes action.
More pirates, more trials?
These lawsuits can be a lucrative business, especially when select defendants opt for quick settlements of a few thousand dollars. Money adds to the deterrent factor, which copyright holders often cite as one of the main reasons for taking action.
These lawsuits deter many would-be pirates and perhaps some of your neighbors as well, but the copyright infringement problem is quite persistent, as Strike 3's own track record shows.
This week, we decided to take a look at the number of file-sharing lawsuits filed in the United States in 2022. The data shows that one company has been particularly active: Strike 3 Holdings.
New record!
From January 1 to today, Strike 3 filed 2,788 complaints in various US courts, targeting "John Doe" subscribers. This is a record statistic. Never before has a copyright holder filed so many lawsuits against alleged users of file shares in a single year.
For comparison, in 2017 all rights holders combined filed 1,019 file-sharing cases. In the following years, this number increased mainly thanks to Strike 3, which set the standard previous record at 2,094 in 2018.
Strike 3 filed its first case in 2017 and has since filed more than 9,000 complaints in federal courts.
Strike 3 is currently responsible for the majority of legal actions against file sharers in the US. Other independent movie studios also file lawsuits related to hacking, but these are limited to a few dozen at most.
With this level of workload, it is not surprising that most cases are resolved relatively quickly. Of all the lawsuits filed in the first half of the year, more than 90% have already been closed. This happens when the parties settle out of court or if Strike 3 withdraws a complaint for other reasons.
edge cases
There are also cases of defendants simply ignoring Strike 3's demands. When that happens, Strike 3 often seeks a default judgment from the court, which can go either way depending on the circumstances.
A massive award of damages is a potential outcome. Last year, a New York federal court ordered a local resident to pay $108,750 in damage for sharing 145 hacked videos via BitTorrent. Other courts have denied similar requests for default judgment.
Due to the costs involved, it is rare for accused pirates to defend themselves and then secure a victorybut when Strike 3 filed a lawsuit against a "John Doe" who turned out to be a retired police officer in his 70s, the tables were turned.
Another "Doe" is putting up a spirited fight in a separate case, one that is currently heading to trial. If that goes ahead, it will only be the second time it has happened.
In general, we assume that Strike 3 must be quite satisfied with the results of its legal campaigns. If it were a money-losing operation, they probably wouldn't file thousands of complaints every year.
