On May 29, 2012, Tomcat Films, LLC filed a lawsuit against something like 350 Internet accountholders. On June 25, 2012, the Court granted Tomcat leave to take early discovery, and shortly afterward it served subpoenas on various Internet Service Providers.
In July, Internet customers began receiving letters or email notifications from their ISPs, such as Comcast, BellSouth.net, and Brighthouse or Road Runner.
The lawsuit, Tomcat Films, LLC v. Does 1-XXX, 4:12-cv-261-RH-CAS is currently pending in the Tallahassee Division of the Northern District of Florida.
Aliens v. Avatars is a low, low-budget film released in September 2011 (trailer below). It was either ignored or obliterated by critics. (At the time of this writing, it was rated 1.6 out of 10 stars by IMDb users.) It has no relation to the famed Ridley Scott’s Aliens or James Cameron’s Avatar. Rather, Aliens v. Avatars is a “mockbuster,” a film so closely titled to as to be easily confused with a Hollywood blockbuster. For instance, unsuspecting BitTorrent users trying to download Avatar may accidentally download the mockbuster instead. Not only will such downloaders be grossly disappointed at the film’s quality (or so we assume, judging by the negative reviews), but worse, they may be implicated as a John Doe in a lawsuit.
We are betting that Tomcat Films made close to no money on this film at the box-office and is thus trying to recoup its losses via copyright troll litigation. If you received a letter from your ISP about this lawsuit and would like to discuss your options with Attorney Conlin, who has begun filing motions in this lawsuit on behalf of John Does, feel free to call our office for a free consultation at 407-965-5519.
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