Latest news with #copyrightinfringement
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
'Jetflicks' is off the air: Five pay the price for $37.5M illegal TV streaming scheme
In a Sin City scheme reminiscent of a made-for-TV miniseries, five Nevada men have been sentenced for their roles in an illegal streaming operation whose inventory of illicitly obtained TV episodes exceeded that of streaming giants such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. Federal investigators say the streaming enterprise, dubbed Jetflicks, resulted in copyright infringement valued at as much as $37.5 million — and that's a conservative estimate. The men were sentenced in late May to prison terms ranging from time served to seven years in federal custody, with final judgments issued on Monday. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the case was the largest-ever involving internet piracy brought to trial, as well as the first involving illegal streaming. The operation, the department said, harmed 'every major copyright owner of a television program in the United States,' constituting millions of dollars' worth of lost revenue. 'By building and running one of the largest unauthorized streaming services in the U.S., these individuals not only stole from content creators and legitimate streaming services; they undermined the integrity of our economy and the rule of law," said Jose A. Perez, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Investigative Division. 'These sentencings are a reminder that illegal actions have consequences.' According to court documents and trial evidence, Jetflicks was an online subscription-based service based in Las Vegas through which users could stream and occasionally download copyrighted TV programs without their owners' permission. At one point, Jetflicks boasted a selection of more than 183,000 different TV episodes, significantly more than licensed streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime or Vudu. Jetflicks 'made available more television episodes than any licensed streaming service on the market,' said Matthew Galeotti, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division. 'This scheme generated millions of dollars in criminal profits and hurt thousands of U.S. companies and individuals who owned the copyrights to these shows but never received a penny in compensation from Jetflicks,' Galeotti said. According to VdoCipher, a secure hosting and video streaming platform designed to thwart piracy, pirated video material reaps more than 230 billion views globally each year, rivaling or even surpassing the volume of legal platforms. The company cited projections estimating that streaming piracy will cost U.S. video providers over $113 billion in lost revenues by 2027. Operation made some illegal streams available within a day The five Nevada men, all of Las Vegas, were convicted after a 14-day trial that ended in June 2024. Found guilty of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement were Kristopher Lee Dallmann, 42; Douglas M. Courson, 65; Felipe Garcia, 43; Peter H. Huber, 67; and Jared Edward Jaurequi, 44, also known as Jared Edwards. Additionally, Dallman was convicted of money laundering and criminal copyright infringement both by distribution and by performance. Dallman was sentenced to 84 months in prison, while Huber received an 18-month term. Jaurequi was sentenced to approximately five months already served in addition to 180 days of home confinement and 500 hours of community service. Garcia was sentenced to 49 days in prison, three years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service, while Courson received a sentence of 48 days in prison and three years' probation. According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants used automated software and nonstop computer scripts to scour global sites for pirated content. Content was downloaded, processed, stored and made immediately available for streaming and/or downloading to Jetflicks' tens of thousands of paid subscribers, in some cases as soon as the day after it had aired. The five defendants were among eight people originally indicted in connection with the operation in the Eastern District of Virginia before the case was transferred to the District of Nevada for trial. They performed various roles for Jetflicks ranging from management, content acquisition, customer interface, technical assistance, website design and computer programming and coding, the Justice Department said. Previously, computer programmer Darryl Polo was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Virginia in May 2021 to four years and nine months in prison on four counts of criminal copyright infringement and one count of money laundering for his involvement with Jetflicks and an equally large illegal streaming site he ran called iStreamItAll. Meanwhile, Luis Villarino was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on a count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. A final defendant, Yoany Vaillant, a Cuban citizen who also did computer programming for Jetflicks, was tried separately from the other five defendants once the case moved to Nevada. In November, Vaillant was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 4. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's field office in Washington, D.C., with the bureau's Las Vegas field office assisting. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Las Vegas men sentenced in $37.5 million illegal streaming operation Solve the daily Crossword
The Sun
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
What happened to Sylvanian Drama on TikTok? The legal fight over controversial viral clips explained
A VIRAL TikTok account that featured toys getting drunk, doing drugs and committing violence is reportedly at the centre of a legal battle. Sylvanian Drama, launched by Irish content creator Thea Von Engelbrechten, is being sued by Japanese company Epoch. 1 The social media account, which has frequently gone viral for its darkly comedic skits featuring the small toys, mysteriously went quiet this year after it landed in legal hot water with the toys' maker. It is now being reported that Sylvanian Drama, which has 2.5 million followers on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram, is being sued for copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition. Why is the lawsuit only being reported now? Epoch's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 7, initially went unnoticed but drew attention last week when some outlets reported on the situation. It came after reporters noticed months of silence from the account. The lawsuit, first reported by The Irish Independent, added that the site also uses a copyrighted image as Sylvanian Drama's social media profile picture. CCTV captures moment toy-loving boy crawls into claw machine The company claims that Thea Von Engelbrechten has been 'doubling her efforts to exploit Epoch's copyrights and trademarks for her own commercial gain' despite the company's attempts to work the issue out amicably. Sylvanian Families, also known as Calico Critters in the United States and Canada, are felt dolls in the shape of cute, anthropomorphized animals. They were first released in Japan in 1985. How did Sylvanian Drama become so popular? The creatures range from bunnies and kittens to squirrels and more, all with wide, black eyes and tiny clothing. The videos on Sylvanian Drama, all of which feature Calico Critters, often rack up millions of views each. Von Engelbrechten began posting Sylvanian Drama videos in 2021, when she was a 19-year-old multimedia student at Dublin City University. She told The Tab in a 2023 interview that her videos were meant to parody shows like 'Gossip Girl' and 'Pretty Little Liars.' 'I'm always surprised that I'm not already canceled for the stuff that I do,' she said. 'I don't mean any harm and also … a lot of the issues that I joke about are problems in my own life. 'There's a lot of stuff about weight and dieting and people struggling with that, and that's all just me joking about myself. So I'm not making fun of anyone.' Inspiration for content As reported by the BBC, the court document states that in an interview with influencer marketing company Fohr, Von Engelbrechten said her inspiration for the storylines came from "cringey TV shows and early 2000s comedy". She added: "I'm also really inspired by my cats because they are extremely sassy and self-obsessed and can be so cute, but they also have no morals when it comes to killing other animals. 'I try to embody that with the Sylvanians." Asked why she thought her videos were so popular she told Fohr: "Maybe it's because it's coming from the voice of a 22-year-old who struggles with the same things as [they do]. 'I have a lot of storylines about insecure people, diet culture, toxic men, and sustainability, which I think other girls my age are also thinking a lot about." Do you have a Sylvanian Families toy worth up to £500 in your house? Anyone who grew up in the 80s will remember the cute Sylvanian Families toys - and some could now fetch you a pretty penny on eBay. The furry animals come in neat family sets (mum and dad, son and daughter), all with old-fashioned outfits, jobs and homes. The cute characters were first introduced in the UK back in 1985, after being designed by Japanese firm Epoch. And it seems like the older and rarer your models, the more they might now be worth online. Last year, a collector sold a rare Japanese doll from 2003 for a whopping £500 - almost five times its auction start price of £99. Another vintage Sylvanian teddy bear from the 1980s sold for £456. A date has been set for August 14 for a pre-trial conference. This is when legal teams from both sides will meet to explore settlement options or prepare the case for trial. Von Engelbrechten and Epoch have yet to respond to press requests for comment.
The Verge
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Anthropic will face a class-action lawsuit from US authors
A California federal judge ruled Thursday that three authors suing Anthropic over copyright infringement can bring a class action lawsuit representing all U.S. writers whose work was allegedly downloaded from libraries of pirated works. The filing alleges that Anthropic, the Amazon-backed OpenAI competitor behind the chatbot Claude, 'violated the Copyright Act by doing Napster-style downloading of millions of works.' It alleges that the company downloaded as many as seven million copies of books from libraries of pirated works. The new ruling impacts a lawsuit filed last August by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who alleged that Anthropic had 'built a multibillion-dollar business by stealing hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books.' Late last month, a federal judge sided with Anthropic to rule that training its AI models on legally-purchased books was fair use but noted the company would need to face a separate trial for using allegedly pirated books. It also follows the lawsuit Reddit filed against Anthropic last month, claiming that the AI company's bots had accessed Reddit more than 100,000 times since last July, after Anthropic had said it blocked them from doing so. The authors' lawsuit is part of a growing trend of media outlets, platforms, companies, and creatives either suing AI companies over copyright infringement — for instance, Universal Music's 2023 lawsuit against Anthropic over 'systematic and widespread infringement of their copyrighted song lyrics' — or partnering up with them to willingly provide AI training data in order to get a slice of the profits.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
British streaming pirate who made £1million from illegal video sites and blew it on holidays and a £91k Jaguar sports car is jailed for three years
A British man who made £1million from illegal streaming sites before splurging it on extravagant holidays and a flashy £91,000 Jaguar coupe has been jailed for three years. Stephen Woodward, 36, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, had been distributing copyrighted content through websites such as IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV. IPTV Hosting provided illegal access to more than 4,500 channels including Sky Sports and TNT Sports to end users and resellers for a fee, which Stephen racked up before indulging on designer clothes and jetting across the world. He also spent his down time driving around in a Jaguar F-Type V8, which is worth £91,000 and boasts a top speed of around 186mph. However, a major operation into Stephen's activity found subscriptions were paid for via card payments, 13 PayPal accounts owned by him and peer-to-peer payment services such as Circle. It was then discovered that the 36-year-old would exchange the money into cryptocurrency, convert it back to flat currency before depositing it across 23 bank accounts. This investigation led to police arresting Stephen and his brother Christopher Woodward, 34, who also received £126,000 from the sales of the illegal streaming sites. Following an investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, the brothers were sentenced at York Crown Court on July 11. Stephen was sentenced to three years and one month in prison after he pleaded guilty at the same court on February 21, 2025, to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences. Christopher, also of Thirsk, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work. He pleaded guilty at the same court on the same date to money laundering. Investigators additionally secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash seized from Stephen during the investigation was also frozen. These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen's address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings. Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, of City of London Police, said: 'Illegal streaming weakens the creative industries by diverting money away from legitimate businesses and into the hands of criminals like Stephen Woodward. 'Lost revenue as a result of illegal streaming means fewer jobs and less investment in future opportunities. It's estimated that this criminal activity contributes to over 80,000 job losses each year alone. 'Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites. Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity. 'His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content.' Stephen was arrested in November 2019. During a search of his home officers seized a computer, a hard drive and nine phones, as well as £4,760 in cash found in a desk drawer in his living room. Around 100 envelopes, each containing a SIM card with a name written on it, were also seized. Stephen used the SIM cards to help open PayPal and bank accounts using false identities he had bought online. He was released under investigation while enquiries continued, before PIPCU analysis of his phone uncovered evidence to show that he had been in communication with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting. In his messages to Christopher, Stephen said that he was making £100,000 a month through illegal streaming. In 2020, while the investigation into IPTV Hosting was underway, officers were alerted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) that Stephen had started running two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting. The websites provided illegal access to watch Premier League matches, as well as over 6,500 channels from around the world. Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen for the second time and searched his home address in July 2020. He told officers that 'the cash is in the same place as last time', referring to the desk drawer in his living room, from which around £28,600 in cash was seized, before he was again released under investigation. In October 2022, Stephen was detained by Border Force officers at Gatwick whilst attempting to board a flight to Vancouver. Three bundles of cash, worth a total of £10,870, were seized from his luggage. The cash seized by BTP and Border Force officers was incorporated into PIPCU's investigation. The three websites run by Stephen are no longer in operation.
The Sun
11-07-2025
- The Sun
‘Brazen' illegal streaming kingpin who made £1 million from dodgy sites showing Sky Sports and 4,500 channels is jailed
A BRIT who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle running three illegal streaming sites for cheap access to Sky Sports has been jailed for more than three years. Stephen Woodward, 36, splashed out on designer clothes and jewellery, expensive holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000 from his ill-gotten gains. 3 3 Messages found on his phone bragged of making £100,000 a month from the operation. Stephen ran three websites with access to Sky Sports and 4,500 other premium channels for a small fee. This included IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV, which have all since been closed down. Police believe he pocketed £1million overall. "Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites," said Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from City of London Police. "Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity. "His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content." City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets owned by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash, which was seized from Stephen during their investigation, was also frozen. These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen's address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings. The 36-year-old, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court on February 21 to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences. He will serve three years and one month behind bars. His brother Christopher Woodward, 34, who pocketed £126,000 from the operation, pleaded guilty to money laundering. He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work. Officers first arrested Stephen back in November 2019 and searched his home address, where they seized almost £5,000, a computer, a hard drive, nine phones and around 100 SIM cards to help him open different PayPal accounts using false identities he bought online. Analysis of his phone found evidence of communications with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting, in which he said he was making £100,000 a month. Despite being released under investigation, Stephen launched two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting. He was arrested and had his home searched a second time in July 2020, telling officers on the scene "the cash is in the same place as last time". But that wasn't to be the only time Stephen landed himself in trouble with the police. In November 2020, he was arrested again by British Transport Police at Kings Cross station on suspicion of money laundering, after a staff member at Thirsk station saw him place a carrier bag behind a grit bin before boarding a train to London. The staff member checked the contents of the bag and was shocked to find £20,000. Kieron Sharp, Chairman of anti piracy organisation FACT, said: "This investigation and the outcome underline that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime. "It harms the creative economy and funds criminality. "FACT commends the work of PIPCU in bringing this long-running case to justice." Warning over 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it. The software most commonly used is called Kodi. It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn't allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK. But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free. It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as "fully-loaded" - a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels. 'These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,' the government said at the time. 'They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.'
