Starting on the befitting launch date of Halloween, a new copyright Plaintiff recently began filing suits in mass in the Middle District of Florida. Since then, film company Bait Productions Ltd. has filed 16 lawsuits against a total of 959 anonymous John Does.
The suits are for the alleged infringement of an Australian film, Bait (trailer below). According to IMDb, the film is about shoppers trapped inside a supermarket by a “freak tsunami” with a 12-foot great white shark.
All suits were filed by and through attorney Richard E. Fee of Tampa, Florida. Eleven were filed in Tampa and three in Jacksonville. However, unlike many of the other recent mass-copyright suits, Bait Productions has filed two in Orlando.
The Orlando judges so far have not taken well to to the mass-joinder of John Does, so these two Orlando cases will be ones to keep an eye out for.
Case No. 6:12-cv-1637 (filed on Nov. 1, 2012) is currently before Magistrate Judge David A Baker, and Case No. 6:12-cv-1721 (filed Nov. 15, 2012) is pending before Magistrate Judge Gregory Kelly. In the first case, Bait Production’s motion for leave to serve non-party subpoenas, which was filed on November 8, 2012, is still pending. Based on at least one other, previous mass-Doe case in the Orlando division, it is possible that the Orlando Court may deny the motion for improper joinder, and such would reflect well for the John Does on the cases in the other courts.
The list of films follows below. If you receive a letter from your Internet Service Provider stating you were implicated in one of these lawsuits, feel free to call our office at 407-965-5519 for a free consultation.
3:12-cv-01204-HES-JRK
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-66
filed 11/01/12
3:12-cv-01205-MMH-JBT
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-42
filed 11/01/12
3:12-cv-01252-UAMH-JBT
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-71
filed 11/15/12
6:12-cv-01637-GAP-DAB
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-73
filed 11/01/12
6:12-cv-01721-ACC-GJK
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-31
filed 11/15/12
8:12-cv-02464-VMC-MAP
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-36
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02465-JSM-TGW
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-71
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02466-MSS-MAP
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-70
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02467-VMC-AEP
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-72
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02468-JSM-MAP
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-54
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02469-VMC-TGW
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-71
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02470-JDW-EAJ
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-72
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02471-VMC-TGW
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-64
filed 10/31/12
8:12-cv-02554-MSS-TGW
Bait Productions Pty Ltd.
filed 11/13/12
8:12-cv-02555-JDW-TBM
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-41
filed 11/13/12
8:12-cv-02556-MSS-TGW
Bait Productions Pty Ltd. v. Does 1-52
filed 11/13/12
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