LAS VEGAS - Alleging statutory damages of more than $100 million,
Falcon Foto attorney
Robert Apgood served representatives of
Guerilla Traffic with a federal lawsuit in their booth on the
Internext show floor Wednesday morning.
Filed Jan. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the suit claims Guerilla Traffic parent company Centurion Ltd. infringed Falcon Foto’s copyright on more than 700 images that have appeared on more than 300 Web pages during the past year, at least.
“Centurion remains liable under the law for $150,000 per image plus attorney fees and court costs,” said Apgood. “The statutory damages in this case could be in excess of $100 million.”
According to Falcon Foto President Jason Tucker, representatives of both companies have been discussing the situation for more than a year. Negotiations recently reached an impasse when “George [Giordano of Centurion] told me, ‘Fuck you. Sue me. It’ll be great publicity,’” Tucker said.
“Some say that members of the adult industry should not sue each other,” Apgood observed wryly. “Wrong. They should not
steal from each other.”
Giordano admitted being “in shock” after he was served with the lawsuit. “Desperate people often do desperate things,” he told AVNOnline.com. “When people start suing, they’re desperate.”
According to court documents, Centurion is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company has 20 days to respond to the suit.
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