Los Angeles – Hotfile, a cyberlocker file-hosting service
that has been sued for copyright infringement by studios represented by the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has filed a motion to dismiss the
lawsuit, TorrentFreak reports.
Florida-based Hotfile had previously settled a
number of similar suits, but is fighting the studios’ claims of direct and
indirect copyright infringement.
Hotfile denies that it facilitates
infringements by its users, or that it "has the specific intent to promote
infringement," the motion states.
Hotfile also denies
"contributory" infringement, citing in its argument the Sony Betamax case and MGM v.
Grokster.
The company notes that it complies with all DMCA takedown
notices from copyright holders, and does not offer a search function for users.
"Realizing that the uninterrupted line of active inducement cases all
involved sites with built in search capability, the Studios try to twist the
absence of a search box into ‘concealment’. Thus, according to the Studios, web
hosts are damned if they allow search (as ‘active inducers’) and are damned (as
‘concealers’) if they don’t," Hotfile says in the motion.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3shy746
(TorrentFreak)
http://tinyurl.com/3z5q6sc
(DMW previous coverage)
