Pirate IPTV Services to Pay $30 Million in Copyright Damages

By iptv.legal , in News , at March 28, 2023

Operators of two pirate IPTV services have been ordered to pay $30 million in damages for copyright infringement.

While the lawsuit originated in 2021 against these pirate IPTV services, it wasn’t until recently that the MPA and its members got to walk away with $30 million in damages.

Pirate IPTV Services to Pay $30 Million in Damages

The services in question are AllAccessTV and Quality Restreams. Two US-based pirate IPTV operations that offered thousands of live channels, VOD packages, and more.

AllAccessTV (AATV) was a live TV service claiming to provide over 2,000 live channels, VOD content, and more for under $20 per month.

The alleged operator of AllAccessTV (AATV) is a Texas resident named Dwayne Johnson.

Connected service Quality Restreams allegedly provided infringing movies and TV shows to other pirate IPTV providers, including AATV.

Now what was most interesting about this situation, is the lawsuit alleged that AATV presented itself as a VPN provider.

Most IPTV providers make great efforts to hide their name, but the lawsuit revealed that the MPA had already identified Dwayne Johnson as a manager of VPN Safe Vault LLC, the entity believed to be behind the ‘VPN’ site.

While Johnson’s legal team initially fought back, the defense said targeting a VPN platform would amount to “an unlawful restraint on trade.”

In May 2022, the parties informed the court that while there was no aversion to reaching a settlement, they would press ahead with discovery nonetheless.

With a trial scheduled for July this year, on March 16 the studios and Johnson reached an agreement to bring hostilities to an end.

The settlement includes a permanent injunction restraining any and all unauthorized copying, storing, and dissemination of copyrighted content to internet users, whether directly or indirectly through third parties.

Johnson also agreed not to “distribute, transfer, or give any source code, object code, or other technology,” including domain names, trademarks, brands, assets, or goodwill, that are in any way related to the AATV and Quality Restreams services.

District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr signed off on the permanent injunction, along with a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs for copyright infringement and an award for damages.

“Damages are awarded in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant, in the total amount of thirty million dollars ($30 million),” the judgment reads.

For more information on this story, you can view the report on TorrentFreak and the official legal documentation (PDF).

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen notable IPTV services get into legal trouble or even shut down.

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