FREE, FREE, FREE! Free latest movies, TV shows for you! Looks familiar right? We come across such kind of advertisements almost every day. A chunk of the population even falls into the trap of subscription laid by these tech-junkies. And the rest are aware of the dark history behind it. The content made available by these streaming platforms is uploaded using illegal means and on top of that, they charge some above-average amount from the subscribers for viewing the content. A definite win-win for these digital “pirates”, no paperwork or legal formalities to obtain a license plus they get to fill their pockets by doing practically nothing. The comparatively-low prices are enough to lure customers. Well, not all can hide from the eyes of the law. Lately, a bunch of production houses and streaming websites have come together accusing one unlawful online streaming provider Crystal Clear Media of copyright infringement.
The defendant, TTKM Enterprises, LLC operates an online streaming website widely known under the name, Crystal Clear Media. The Florida-based service provider offers the viewers over 14,000 movies and more than 3,000 TV series charging a fee ranging from $15-$40 per month. “Frozen-II”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “Despicable Me 3” are some Hollywood blockbusters available for members on an on-demand viewing basis. Factually, all this content is copyrighted by the plaintiffs and given to online platforms like Netflix and Amazon under licensing agreements.
The lawsuit states, “Defendants own and operate the Crystal Clear Media service, an infringing streaming service that sells — directly and through an expanding network of resellers — unauthorized access to copyrighted movies and television programs through thousands of live and title-curated television channels (Internet Protocol television (‘IPTV’)) and video-on-demand (‘VOD’) offerings.”
On Wednesday, the plaintiffs, Disney, Paramount, Amazon, Warner Bros, Netflix, Universal, Columbia, and StudioCanal filed a copyright infringement suit before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint adds that the defendants are engaged in ongoing “willful” infringement such that they are making money through their “blatantly infringing services”. Mediahosting.one, crystalcleariptv.com, ccbilling.org, amongst a few others, are some websites offering infringing copyrighted content as mentioned in the complaint.
The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction along with statutory damages of $150,000 per infringed work. Additionally, in the event of continuing infringement or third-party violations taking place in the “knowledge” of defendants, they shall be subjected to pay further $150,000 per infringed work.
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