This week saw the filing of two new copyright troll cases in the Nortern District of Florida
Metro Media Entertainment, LLC v. Does 1-18, No. 3:12-cv-324-MCR-CJK
Digital Sin Inc. v. Does 1-16, No. 1:12-cv-136-SPM-GRJ
Both lawsuits were filed on June 26, 2012, by and through Virginia attorney Mike Meier of the Copyright Law Group, LLC, a former copyright defense lawyer who took over attorney Terik Hashmi’s cases that were thrown out because Hashmi was not authorized to practice in Florida. Meier also is not admitted to the Florida Bar; however the federal courts allow out-of-state attorneys to sometimes practice pro hac vice.
Unlike other suits filed against huge numbers of Does (i.e. suits by Celestial Inc. and Nu Image that number Does into the hundreds or thousands), these recent cases are filed against relatively small batches of Does – 18 and 16, respectively. The smaller number of Does are designed to allow the courts to accept the cases and make them more manageable. Imagine 16 defendants as opposed to say, 3,932 defendants, as has been done in a current suit from Nu Image, Inc.
Also unlike other copyright troll plantiffs that have been losing motions based on personal jurisdiction, these plaintiffs include in their suits declarations showing that each John Doe can be found in the Northern District of Florida.
If you received a letter from your Internet Service Provider accusing you of illegal downloading in these or other copyright troll cases filed in the Middle or Northern Districts of Florida, feel free to call Attorney Conlin at 407-965-5519 for a free consultation.
Leave a Reply