Emboldened by Megaupload shutdown, Hollywood targets Hotfile

Film studios are asking a US District Court for a summary judgment against Hotfile, saying the file sharing site's business model is identical to that of Megaupload, a site shut down by the US government in January due to repeated copyright infringement.

"Hotfile's business model is indistinguishable from that of the website Megaupload, which recently was indicted criminally for engaging in the very same conduct as Hotfile," plaintiffs Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Columbia, and Warner Bros. argued in a court filing Monday in the Southern District of Florida. "Defendants even admit they formed Hotfile 'to compete with' Megaupload."

The studios argued Hotfile is not eligible for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's Safe Harbor provision, in part because the site did not terminate repeat infringers, or identify and keep track of infringers. The studios accessed Hotfile data through the litigation discovery process, and say the infringement notices sent to Hotfile by copyright owners revealed a "staggering" number of repeat infringers. Hotfile owner Anton Titov "has a direct financial stake in Hotfile's extensive infringing activities, which he took active steps to enable," the court filing states.

Hotfile argues that it is eligible for DMCA safe harbor provisions because it has taken steps including registering a DMCA agent, and informing users about its repeat infringer policy. Throughout the site's three-year history Hotfile says it has provided a "report abuse" form for content owners to send DMCA takedown notices, and has taken down links in response.

In a separate filing, Titov argued that he is not responsible for the day-to-day operations of Hotfile. Titov is responsible for technical matters, but "has not implemented technical features to frustrate copyright owner enforcement efforts," he argued. Hotfile even developed a tool that lets "selected copyright owners instantaneously take down files that they believe infringer their copyrights," Titov's filing states.

The film studios' suit against Hotfile was filed in February 2011. Hotfile countersued in September, charging that Warner Bros. violated the DMCA by repeatedly demanding removal of content the studio did not own.