Titan Seeks $1.35M in Tube Site Piracy Case

SAN FRANCISCO — In a piracy case portrayed as one of "cat and mouse," Titan Media has asked a federal judge to award the gay adult studio $1.35 million against the two operators of MonsterCockTube.com.

Titan claims MonsterCockTube’s Thorsten Palicki and Maik Herrmann pirated nine gay adult films for its membership site.

Further, the gay adult studio says the German pair have attempted to avoid the suit by changing ownership into a bogus offshore company, concealing online assets and "engaging in a game of cat and mouse rather than appear before the court and engage in discovery."

General Counsel Gill Sperlein plans to ask a judge in early June to award Titan a default judgment against the pair after Titan movies found their way to MonsterCockTube.com.

Titan says MonsterCockTube tracked each time someone viewed one of the infringing video files and published the number of views on the website next to the display.

The Titan movies allegedly posted on MonsterCockTube include "110 in Tucson," "Boner," "Cirque Noir," "Crossing the Line," "Gale Force: MR2," "Hell Room," "SeaMen: FA IV," "Telescope" and "White Trash."

One of the videos — "Telescope" — was viewed more than 20,000 times, Titan says.

Palicki and Herrmann, both German citizens, haven't responded to the court relative to the Titan suit for months. The last piece of correspondence sent from U.S. District Court in San Francisco earlier this month was stamped "return to sender."

Since serving the pair at a Florida adult trade show in August, Herrmann and Palicki have communicated from Germany to Chesney that they can’t be tried for civil liability in the U.S.

As German citizens and business owners, the pair said, “only the constitutional principles of the Federal Republic of Germany for us as non-Americans are valid.”

“I would ask you to instruct [Titan] to send us the complaint with the constitutional principles of [Germany],” Palicki and Herrmann at the time wrote.

With the upcoming hearing, Titan plans to show that the pair all along have been stringing the studio and the courts along.

"The facts here clearly portray defendants sneering in the face of copyright owners and copyright laws," Titan said in a brief to the court. "Defendants knew their actions violated the law. Their strategy was simply to avoiding identification and to evade the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.

"They formed and dissolved business entities, transferred assets, and blocked plaintiff’s IP address so employees could no longer view their websites."

Titan Media's Keith Webb told XBIZ that operators of MonsterCockTube now face a "textbook example of what not to do when you get caught stealing Titan content."

"Instead of acting like responsible members of the adult industry, these two chose to show the sleazy side of the adult industry," he said.

"Instead of handling this like responsible business owners, they instead chose to play a shell game of avoidance and lies. Instead of owning up to their mistakes and trying to make good, they chose to further complicate their legal troubles and dig themselves an even deeper hole."

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Sansyl Group Acquires Blue Donkey Media

Sansyl Group, parent company of AdultPrime Network, has acquired Blue Donkey Media B.V., owner of Dutch adult site Meiden van Holland, among several other erotic websites and television channels.

Pineapple Support to Hold Mental Health Summit

The annual Pineapple Support Mental Health Summit is taking place Dec. 15-17.

Ofcom Fines AVS Group $1.3 Million for AV Noncompliance

U.K. media regulator Ofcom on Wednesday imposed a penalty of one million pounds, or approximately $1.3 million, on AVS Group Ltd. after an investigation concluded that the company had failed to implement robust age checks on 18 adult websites.

Updated: Aylo to Help Test EU Age Verification App

Pornhub parent company Aylo plans to participate in the European Commission’s pilot program for its “white label” age verification app, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed.

Missouri Lawmaker Attempts to Revive 'Health Warnings' for Adult Sites

A Missouri state representative has introduced a bill that would require adult sites to post notices warning users of alleged physical, mental, and social harms associated with pornography, despite a previous federal court ruling against such requirements.

New Age Verification Service 'BorderAge' Launches

French startup company Needemand has officially launched its subscription-based age verification solution, BorderAge.

Ruling: Italy's 'Porn Tax' Applies to All Content Creators

Italy’s tax revenue agency has ruled that the nation’s 25% “ethical tax” on income generated from adult content applies even to smaller independent online content creators.

Proposed New Hampshire AV Bill Appears to Violate Constitution

A bill in the New Hampshire state legislature, aimed at requiring adult sites to age-verify users in that state, contains a provision that seemingly contradicts the Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.

AEBN Publishes Report on Fetish Trends

AEBN has published a report on fetish categories from its straight and gay theaters.

Online Child Protection Hearing to Include Federal AV Bill

A House subcommittee will hold a hearing next week on a slate of bills aimed at protecting minors online, including the SCREEN Act, which would make site-based age verification of users seeking to access adult content federal law.

Show More