Attorneys who defend troll victims
- Jeffrey Antonelli (Antonielli Law, Chicago IL)
- Samir B. Dahman (Dahman Law, OH)
- Joe Bahgat (Bahgat & Bahgat, Columbus OH)
- Kubs Lalchandani (Lalchandani Simon, Miami FL)
Cases to watch
- Malibu Media v. [John Doe], OHSD 14-cv-00821 (Recap, RFC, #27) (Faroniya / Sweet)
- Appellate brief filed in a Malibu Media case after the troll cuts and runs to avoid compensating wrongly accused (12/21/2016)
- Righting the wrongs: Malibu Media defendants appeal bad rulings (6/17/2016)
- Defendant opposes Malibu Media’s brazen attempt to cut and run without compensating wrongly accused (3/6/2016)
- Malibu Media’s obstruction of discovery prompts a powerful motion for default judgment (3/1/2016)
Relevant posts
- Appellate brief filed in a Malibu Media case after the troll cuts and runs to avoid compensating wrongly accused (12/21/2016)
- Righting the wrongs: Malibu Media defendants appeal bad rulings (6/17/2016)
- Defendant opposes Malibu Media’s brazen attempt to cut and run without compensating wrongly accused (3/6/2016)
- Malibu Media’s obstruction of discovery prompts a powerful motion for default judgment (3/1/2016)
- Defendant asks judge to declare Malibu Media a vexatious litigant (8/31/2015)
- Court scolds copyright troll Malibu Media for improper litigation tactics (5/26/2015)
- Malibu Media attorneys reveal defendant’s identity despite the order prohibiting that. Judge is not amused (3/16/2015)
- Copyright troll Yousef Faroniya and his telephonophobia (8/27/2014)
- Week of 7/6/2014: news and updates from the Bittorent litigation front (7/13/2014)
- An Ohio judge thinks that Malibu Media’s pleadings are sloppy, vacates his previous orders granting discovery (7/7/2014)
- Lipscomb/Malibu Media test a new turf: Ohio. Meet a local troll Yousef Faroniya (5/12/2014)
Fight © Trolls 
To get each of these new posts going and in an effort to encourage the spirit of those that are new to this vile practice of copyright trolling I am going to post a link to a state specific case where the troll case got slammed which could be used in your Motion to Quash/Sever/Issue a Protective Order.
Nothing useful here that I can find using the internet as sopped to LEXIS/NEXIS, the judges appear to be paper pushers. Reminds me of a college girlfriend from Ohio, boring and useless (in the judges’ case as minders of the court’s integrity and diligence).
I stand corrected there is an interesting case were the ISP, Buckeye Cable,system went to bat for its customers (a very rare occurrence ) and succeeded in getting all Does but Doe 1 severed http://ia600704.us.archive.org/12/items/gov.uscourts.ohnd.179074/gov.uscourts.ohnd.179074.docket.html
SJD-Rather urgent email has been sent to you.
It looks like R&D and Safety Point are really making a home in Ohio. More suits filed.
http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/copyright-lawsuits/ohio-northern-district-court/119075/r-d-film-1-llc-v-does-142-162/summary/
http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/copyright-lawsuits/ohio-northern-district-court/119074/safety-point-productions-llc-et-al-v-does-97-177/summary/
How weird is it that they’re doing what seems like “continued” cases, starting at 142 and 97 instead of 1 for each case.
Wow, one more Safety Point and one more R&D in Ohio. Plaintiff’s lawyer is Douglas Riddell.
R&D is up to 425 does in Ohio. Not sure why, but they’re suing them piecemeal.
Wow, Ohio really must be the new breeding zone for trolls. New trolls, Riding Films Inc, represented by David J. Butler have three cases. They’re numbered sequentially but separated for ~200 does it looks like.
http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/copyright-lawsuits/ohio-southern-district-court/143066/riding-films-inc-v-john-does-129-193/summary/
David J. Butler is co-chair of the Litigation Department of a pretty large law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. The firm has its own Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft_Stettinius_&_Hollister
Its website says more than 300 lawyers work for the firm. Offhand I’d guess that Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is the largest law firm representing copyright trolls to date. I have not seen basic info for Riding Films, Inc. yet.
Mr. Butler is noted on his firm’s website to be a business lawyer with 14 different categories of commercial experience listed. Exactly NONE of these issues is copyright or intellectual property law.
Representing trolls in an extortion type scheme, especially if the troll plaintiff is a porn purveyor, may tarnish the reputation of the larger group.
According to the firm’s site, David J. Butler is “listed as a Rising Star by Ohio Super Lawyers (2005 – 2012)”. Hopefully, assisting in a shakedown scheme is not a qualification for the 2013 list.
Klinton W. Alexander of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs filed a case in Tennessee for Riding Films Inc. Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs is also a large firm. Its website says it employs about 200 lawyers and that the firm is 200 years old.
It’s pretty sure that a large law firm has many sources of income. It doesn’t need to risk its reputation in the seedy demand racket of video copyright trolling, for a few bucks.
I have no idea what riding films inc. is. I can’t find them with a cursory search. I’ve really been swamped.
But in RFC I noticed that it said “Plaintiffs Riding Films, Inc., NGN Productions, Inc. identifying Other Affiliate NGN Productions, Inc. for Riding Films, Inc”
NGN productions has a IMDB page. They’re Canadian. Here’s the IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/company/co0226484/
A bunch of really, really, REALLY, REALLY crappy B-movies it looks like.
Yes. NGN is the “Nasser Group North” production company.
Rider Films is noted as an “Employer for hire of Joseph Nasser”. The only copyrights listed on the web for “Riding Films, Inc” are for the 2012 movie Dawn Rider (2011 script copyright ©right assignments). Dawn Rider is the re-make of a 1935 John Wayne western. NGN has produced other westerns. So likely the cowboys and riding of Riding Films are only the kind that involves a horse.
Both Jack and Joseph Nasser are listed as producers on various films for NGN North. Both have producer credits on IMDB for over 50 films. Joseph also has credits as director, screenwriter and actor.
NGN’s address, just east of Vancouver, Canada is listed as
Nasser Group North
8180 Winston St Burnaby, BC V5A 2H5
(604) 420-4840
NGN Prima filed a Canadian federal court case in Montreal, which granted them discovery for 50 Does alleged to be part of file sharing for the movie “Recoil.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Company+collects+data+millions+illegal+downloaders+first+step+crack+down/7613175/story.html
The supposedly-forensic software company for the case is Canipre, based in Montreal. Barry Logan, managing director of Canipre has boasted that his company has files for one million Canadians. Canipre in turn has also partnered with Voltage Pictures, the troll plaintiffs behind the “Hurt Locker” cases in the U.S.
Torrent freak has covered some of the Canadian trolling by Canipre and its partner studios, for instance:
http://torrentfreak.com/judge-delays-teksavvy-copyright-trolls-for-public-interest-intervention-130115/
http://torrentfreak.com/canadian-isp-defends-decision-not-to-oppose-bittorrent-copyright-trolls-121218/
http://torrentfreak.com/canadian-isp-prepares-for-unprecedented-bittorrent-troll-assault-121211/
http://torrentfreak.com/canada-set-for-mass-bittorrent-lawsuits-anti-piracy-company-warns-121127/
Riding Films Inc. filed a copyright trolling case in Tennessee on Nov 30, 2012. NGN Prima Productions also filed one copyright trolling case in Florida Northern District in May 2012 (for the movie Recoil) and two cases in October 2012 in Massachusetts.
Nice work.
And now there’s Zambezia Film Pty, once again being represented by Stamoulis and Weinblatt. 3 cases for 60 does.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6805/125/
Anyone heard if there are any new suits in Ohio?
After several months of being afraid to open my mailbox every day, I finally checked back on Pacer to find that my case was dismissed without prejudice a few weeks prior. Never received a letter, phone call or even an email from the troll during the whole time. I don’t want to give too many details here but will discuss some with the site operator by email if it will be of help to others.
Sure you can write me to sjd@protonmail.ch . I won’t publish anything without conferring first.
I just received a letter from my ISP, Time Warner stating that Malibu Media’s Ohio lawyer, Yousef Faroniya, is filing a subpoena to discover my identity. I am disabled, and live from month to month. I certainly can’t afford a lawyer. I can’t even afford to go to Columbus if this goes to trial. What is a person in my situation supposed to do?
Oh, I’m sorry I somehow missed a notification to this comment. Do you still want my opinion? If so, do you prefer if I reply here or privately? If it is the latter, drop me an email to sjd@protonmail.ch.
Yes, I’d be interested to hear what you have to say.
While at least consulting with a lawyer is preferable (the majority won’t charge you for the initial consultation), here is what I think about it. It’s not a legal advice, so I may end up being wrong, yet I know know about the troll’s kitchen a bit, so I hope they will let you go in the end. Here is why.
These guys run an efficient shakedown business. “Business” is a key word, which means that once they know for sure it is impossible to squeeze a dime from a Doe, they drop him/her and move to the next target. The second consideration is reputation — not “reputation” how you and me understand it, but the danger of public opinion reducing the ease of making money: judges are not isolated from the society, and the word is going around quickly. Suing a disabled, broke person, while having absolute no upside, has a sizable “reputational” downside. The third consideration is stopping piracy, which is simply non-existent. Moreover, this business depends on ongoing infringement: no sane businessman is interested in killing his diary cow.
I emphasized “know for sure” because they won’t believe your word. They need a solid proof. If you have documentation to back your disability and financial state, it will eventually help. Even if so, they will most likely try to get at least something, so expect pressure. Because admitting to sharing of their smut is a very bad idea, they may pressure you to point a finger to neighbors or family members.
Filing a motion to quash is a waste of time: almost zero chance of success. So eventually they will have your name. To the best of my knowledge, they don’t actively contact a putative defendant anymore, so if you do nothing, they will amend the complaint and your name will be public. If you don’t want this to happen, you need to be proactive and make a contact, preferably through a lawyer. If you do it yourself, be extremely cautious: it’s like talking to the police — everything you say can be used against you. I hope you will be able to convince them to drop you. If they insist on continuing dragging you through this, request a protective order: they almost always agree to allow a defendant to be anonymous for a while.
Now, if nothing works and they continue harassing you: if you have solid proof of your disability and financial state and don’t mind sharing it (redacted), I will be happy to make a noise. Malibu’s owner claimed publicly more than once that she doesn’t want to make people suffer and that she doesn’t go after people like you. While it is not true in many cases, these guys really don’t want another story calling out their hypocrisy.
And, again, call a lawyer, or better a couple of them to get more opinions. Some may even offer to negotiate a no-payment dismissal: this happens once in a while.
Great advice SJD.
DTD 🙂
Thank you for your advice, it’s appreciated. I did contact some of the lawyers listed here in Ohio that handle cases like this and they gave me much the same advise as well. There is little they can do to me financially, and I only hope that they waste a lot of money going after me. People like this are reprehensible, and I wouldn’t knuckle under to them even if I did have something to lose. I can only hope karma catches up with them soon.
RP
I ended up being represented by Dahman Law, they got my case dismissed with prejudice. My lawyer charged me less than half of what they could have(and I really appreciate that, and the fact they are letting me pay in installments), but it is still going to take me a quite a while to pay them off. I hope Malibu Media and all those who work with them burn in hell…
Timothy Shinko is a fraud, I have discovered that two of his clients (Cell Film Holdings LLC and COOK INTERACTIVE, LLC have had their business status revoked – Under Ohio law (and I suspect other states) a business entity no longer in good standing cannot file a lawsuit. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/1705.58v1 When I brought this to Mr. Shinko’s attention, his response was “If you believe your statements to be true. You should argue them to the Court. Good luck with that. ” Cell film Holdings was registered in GA and Cook interactive in FL – the information can be obtained on the GA or FL business search site. I have a case management conference in two weeks where I plan to bring this evidence to the judge and ask for not only a dismissal but for the court to investigate Mr. Shimko and all his prior cases.