The tighter the market gets the more people will look for alternative ways to make money. If everyone was doing 10,000 joins a day nobody would be suing anyone. This is all part of what most people call 'consolidation.'
The problem with going the legal route isn't that it never works, it's that it works too well and it quickly feeds on itself. Look at other industries that have a longer track record than adult online for examples. It will become a game of checking the top Alexa 2500 domains and seeing who can sue who for what. Trademark is one angle, but far from the only one.
The real issue is once the lawsuits start flying and a minority get the idea in their head that its more cost effective to sue people than it is to generate sales, suing people will become its own cottage industry.
Much like the tubes themselves, that will lead to Company X claiming they are only suing Company Y because some other company sued Company X before or because Company Y sued someone. In the end the largest percentage of the windfalls will go to the lawyers and the lawyers will perpetuate the cycle by "suggesting' more lawsuits.
Im not saying Shap is wrong, im not saying hardsextube is wrong. I'm saying if you think tube sites have fucked up this industry badly, just wait until there are a few hundred more lawyers digging their way through it and piling on lawsuits.
In the end, nobody wins.
Settle your disputes amicably. Don't try to take every dime off the table and work things out like gentlemen. The alternative is not just lawsuits.... it's not winning because you think you have a strong case THIS time.... it's more litigation all the time and the only people who make out ahead in that are lawyers.
P.S. - $10 says a well thought out partnership would net more income for twistys AND more income for hardsextube in the end.