One Porn Copyright Troll Has Filed More Lawsuits Than All The Other Trolls Put Together

(Great Beyond)

Malibu Media, the porn company known more for its litigious leanings then for its flesh-filled films, has filed more than 4,000 lawsuits since 2009 against people who allegedly shared Malibu porn online illegally. A new report that compares Malibu’s legal actions to those of other lawsuit-happy copyright defenders helps to put into perspective just how out-of-the norm Malibu’s behavior is.

TorrentFreak reports on an analysis of U.S. copyright lawsuits done by Lex Machina, which found that Malibu has filed 4,332 complaints since 2009.

That’s not just more than any of the other top-15 trolls in the report. It’s nearly 16 times as many lawsuits as the second-biggest troll, a company formed to file complaints against alleged pirates of the movie The Dallas Buyers Club.

In fact, the 4,332 lawsuits filed by Malibu are more than all of the lawsuits filed by the other 14 trolls on the list combined. Actually, it’s more than double that amount.

Why does Malibu file so many lawsuits? Because so many people will either settle them out of court or not defend themselves, resulting in default judgements.

The Lex Machina research finds that Malibu has brought in more than $3 million in damages since 2009 — nearly 10 times the amount of the next-biggest troll on the list — almost all of which has come from default judgements.

Malibu recently asked a court to block a defendant in one of its suits from using phrases like “copyright troll” in the case, claiming it is inaccurate and inflammatory.

The man countered that he believes he has the right to point out Malibu’s alleged reliance on copyright lawsuits for its business model.

And even though he held that Malibu fit the definition of a “copyright troll” as a party that is “more focused on the business of litigation than on selling a product or service or licensing their [copyrights] to third parties to sell a product or service,” the defendant says he would be okay with avoiding the term “troll” if he isn’t blocked from pointing out that Malibu “is very focused on its copyright litigation business.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist