November 18, 2003  Io Group, Inc. the parent company of the premier gay adult studio TITAN MEDIA has filed suit against LFP, Inc. (Larry Flynt Publications) alleging copyright infringement and common law Right of Publicity violations.  The claim stems from the publication of 220 Titan Media photographic images published on the LFP owned and operated website Studclub.com, and served from LFPcontent.com. 

“We were stunned to find 220 of our images being sold as content in LFP’s Studclub.com website, the images were being used as content in photo galleries with no associated review or commentary.” states Keith Webb, Vice President of Marketing for Io Group.  “What is even more shocking is the fact that over 200 of images had our name, or the name of the film, as part of the image’s file name. Over 150 of the images had our copyright mark on the face of the image itself.  LFP clearly knew the origins and the owners of the photos yet they went ahead and published and sold them as content on their paid membership site.” Continues Webb.

 “As one of the worlds largest producers and copyright holders of adult materials in the world, LFP knew or should have known that the content was not theirs to publish and re-sell.” Says Gill Sperlien, General Counsel, Titan Media. “We intend on showing the court that LFP’s actions were willful infringements of Titan Media’s copyright protected properties and seek maximum damages award.”

Io Group will be asking the court for willful statutory damages for each of the 220 images, in addition to common law Right of Publicity awards.  At the discretion of the court, and in an effort to deter others from similar infringment, up to $150,000.00 per image may be awarded for willful violations of copyright protected properties.  In a recent similar case, Perfect 10 was awarded $100,000 per image plus legal costs in an effort to send a message to online publishers that they cannot take content and re-sell it without suffering the consequences for their actions.  The potential award in this case could total over $30 million dollars should the court agree with Io Group’s allegations and find for willful infringement against LFP.

“We are committed to taking this case to trial, to protect our valuable property and our rights.”  Says Bruce Cam, CEO/President of Titan Media.  “We must send a message to the entire online adult industry that it is not okay to publish and profit from someone else’s property without their consent.  If you illegally use Titan Media property, you will get caught and you will end up paying.”

For additional information or to schedule an interview please direct all requests to Gill Sperlein, Titan Media’s general counsel, at the contact information listed below.

D. Gill Sperlein
General Counsel
Io Group, Inc., dba Titan Media
121 Capp Street #200
San Francisco, CA  94110
(Tel) 415-487-1211 ex.32
(Fax) 415-252-7747
Legal@TitanMedia.com