Pink Visual Appeals DMCA Decision in Motherless Case

LOS ANGELES — Pink Visual on Wednesday filed an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over a federal court ruling last month that granted summary judgment to adult tube site Motherless.com.

Pink Visual sued Motherless last year after its employees found 19 copyrighted films, including 33 scenes, owned by Pink Visual's parent company, Ventura Content, on its site.

But last month U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that Motherless' operators were entitled to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe-harbor provisions as an Internet service provider.

As a result, Wilson terminated the case, granting Motherless summary judgment.

The gravamen of Pink Visual's charge in the case was that Motherless hadn't “reasonably” implemented effective procedures for dealing with DMCA-complaint notifications over poached content.

But in its defense and support of its contention that it had “reasonably” implemented their repeat-infringer policy, Motherless attorneys submitted evidence that they had terminated between 1,300 and 2,000 users for alleged copyright infringement.

Pink Visual, in response to that contention that Motherless kicked out repeat copyright thieves on an on-going basis, identified nine users — eight users who uploaded the 19 films at center of the case, as well as one other user — it alleged are infringers who should have been terminated but were not.

Wilson, however, said that "the DMCA requires only that the policy be 'reasonably'— not 'perfectly' — implemented, and thus “occasional lapses are not fatal to the service provider’s immunity.”

"Assuming plaintiff’s best case — that defendants identified, and terminated 1,300 repeat infringers  — defendants’ failure to terminate nine of these users (or less than .01 percent of recognized repeat infringers) is nothing more than an 'occasional lapse' in the implementation of its policy," Wilson ruled.

"Moreover, defendant was not required to terminate at least eight of the nine users identified," he ruled. "[A] service provider is only required to terminate a repeat infringer under 'appropriate circumstances.'"

Wilson said that although the DMCA does not clarify when it is "appropriate" for service providers to act, courts have consistently interpreted this phrase as requiring termination only when a service provider has sufficient evidence of a user’s “blatant, repeat infringement of a willful and commercial nature.”

Pink Visual, in its suit at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, also alleged that Motherless was liable for unfair business practices because it showed disregard to federal rules that apply to the legal porn business, specifically the record-keeping law for adult producers, 18 U.S.C. § 2257(a).

Pink Visual asserted in the case that legitimate porn distributors spend enormous sums to comply with the law and the defendants don't. But Wilson in his ruling shot that offense down and declined to exercise jurisdiction over the claims.

"These allegations do not share a common nucleus of operative fact with plaintiff’s copyright claims," he ruled. "Defendants’ failure to keep records has little, if anything, to do with the copyrighted material that appeared on their system."

Officials at Pink Visual did not immediately return a message to XBIZ for comment. Motherless' operator, Joshua Lange of Staten Island, N.Y., was not able to be reached at post time.

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

Strike 3 Holdings Sues Meta for Pirating Vixen Media Group Content to Train AI

Vixen Media Group owner Strike 3 Holdings filed suit in federal court this week, accusing Facebook parent company Meta of copyright infringement and alleging that Meta has extensively pirated VMG content to train its artificial intelligence models.

Pineapple Support, Streamate to Host 'Navigating Grief and Loss' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Streamate are hosting a free online support group to help performers cope with grief and loss.

Friday is Final AV Compliance Deadline in UK

Friday, July 25 marks U.K. media regulator Ofcom’s deadline for user-to-user services such as tube, cam and fan sites to implement its requisite “highly effective age assurance” measures for preventing minors from viewing adult content.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches for May, June

AEBN has released the top search terms for the months of May and June from its straight and gay theaters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Two Texas Bills Restricting Sex Toy Sales Fail to Pass

Two bills aimed at restricting sales of sex toys have failed to pass the Texas state legislature during its 2025 session.

NYC Adult Stores Petition for Rehearing in Zoning Law Case

A group of adult businesses on Tuesday petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to rehear a case involving a zoning law that could severely limit adult stores’ operations in New York City.

Ofcom Releases Transparency Reporting Guidelines

Ofcom, the U.K. media regulator, has made public its official guidance detailing how online service providers — including adult sites — will be required to publish annual transparency reports on their efforts to protect children from online harms.

New AV Rules Take Effect for Ireland-Based Sites

Ireland’s Online Safety Code came into force Monday, including a provision requiring adult sites headquartered in Ireland to implement age assurance measures beyond self-declaration.

XBIZ Amsterdam Calls on New Startups for 'Spotlight' Program

XBIZ is pleased to announce that its new “Startup Spotlight” programming will make its European premiere at XBIZ Amsterdam 2025, set to take place Sept. 2-5 at the Jakarta Hotel Amsterdam.

Texas Resumes AV Lawsuit Against Aylo Following SCOTUS Decision

A district court judge in Texas has unfrozen the state’s $1.6 million lawsuit against Aylo for allegedly failing to comply with age verification requirements, Bloomberg Law is reporting.

Show More