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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Anti-Piracy Lawyer Sues Torrent Sites for 'YTS' Trademark Infringement [torrentfreak.com]

Pirate sites regularly get into trouble for breaching copyright law. However, a new case filed in Hawaii is of an entirely different order. A well-known anti-piracy lawyer has filed a lawsuit against several YTS sites because the company he represents obtained a similarly-named trademark this year. The complaint mostly targets 'clones' and the real YTS is not named.

The Hawaiian company '42 Ventures' doesn't immediately ring a bell with most torrent users. However, when we say that it owns the trademarks for 'YTS' and 'Popcorn Time,' interests will pique. Founded last year, the company doesn't operate a pirate site. On the contrary, it's represented by Kerry Culpepper, a well-known anti-piracy lawyer who works with several Hollywood film companies.

Following its inception, 42 Ventures registered several piracy-related trademarks which it uses to target pirate sites and apps, including a popular Popcorn Time fork [torrentfreak.com]. The lawyer has used trademark complaints to suspend Twitter accounts, offering to lift the claims in return for a settlement [torrentfreak.com].

As the trademark owner 42 Ventures can do this. However, the method is unusual, to say the least, and some wonder whether it would hold up in court. The Popcorn Time dispute was never litigated though and the developers didn't pay a settlement either. The Twitter handle remains suspended.

A few days ago another trademark issue popped up. This time, 42 Ventures went directly to court where it filed an infringement lawsuit against the operators of YTS.ws, YTS.ms, YST.lt, YTS.tl, YTSag.me, YTS.ae, YTSmovies.cc and YTS-ag.com.

Previously: Anti-Piracy Copyright Lawyer Decides to Abuse Trademarks to Shut Down Pirates [soylentnews.org]

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