Producer of adult films Vivid Entertainment Group has filed a lawsuit in Los Angles federal court against X-rated site PornoTube and its parent, Data Conversions, which does business as AEBN Inc.
Viewing videos on the Internet has damaged porn producers more than the mainstream companies because viewers of adult content can find what they are looking for in clips of five minutes or less. Free short clips cut into the profits of porn producers who earn most of their revenue from long form videos.
The Vivid suit is similar to the lawsuit filed by Viacom this year against YouTube. YouTube and other sites have worked out deals with some producers, sharing ad revenue generated while their clips are played.
“We’ve decided to take a stand and say ‘no more’,” Vivid co-Chairman Steven Hirsch told the L.A. Times. “We will go after all the free sites.” Hirsch said he was not interested in making a deal similar to the ones YouTube has made. “I can’t be a policeman, and I don’t intend to be,” Hirsch said.
Vivid has another problem with PornoTube. Vivid is required by law to record the ages and birth names of its performers, PornoTube does not always comply with that law and has an unfair competitive advantage, according to the lawsuit. The suit is asking for damages of $150,000 for each infringing clip.
“In the past, it was peer-to-peer networks. Now, there’s PornoTube, XTube, RedTube-anykind of Tube you can think of,” Farley Cahen, publisher of Adult Video News Online, said. “There are longer and longer clips that are free, and companies are at a loss over what to do.”
