April 15, 2008 | The Biz

Titan Media triumphs

Don't ask Gilbert Michael Gonzales, or 21 other defendants, if they can spare a dime. They need every cent they have to pay Titan Media $1.275 million in damages for copyright infringement.

“This is yet another victory for not only Titan, but the entire adult industry. The ruling is a huge blow to online piracy blogs,” Titan Media Vice President Keith Webb said after the judge ruled the Gonzales and the others were guilty of pirating Titan's videos.

“You can run and hide but in the end, everything you do online can be traced back to you,” Webb added. “We were able to subpoena ISPs and track the IP address and individual identity of each person on the pirate blog [who was] posting and distributing our films. Once again, the message is clear — if you steal and pirate Titan films, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted.”

Over 45 Titan movies were being shared online through sites like Blogspot.com, Ning.com and RapidShare.com. Titan believes that  the piracy ring resulted in more than 100,000 illegal downloads of Titan material.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel actually tripled the regular amount for the damages because she felt the infringement was “willful.” Free downloads aren't so cheap after all.

So don't any of you go downloading videos you didn't pay for... unless you're on someone else's computer!