http://www.corbinfisher.com/CFnews.aspx
http://www.corbinfisher.com/CFvsDudeVu.pdf
JULY 19, 2010 - SAN DIEGO, CA - STRANGE TWIST IN CF SUIT VS. DUDEVU
Adult studio, Corbin Fisher filed a well-reported lawsuit in November 2009 against the gay tube site, DudeVu. As Corbin Fisher's legal machine geared up, the owners of the site shut it down, but Corbin Fisher sought to bring those behind the site to justice. "They were stealing content," said COO Brian Dunlap. "We weren't going to just let all the prior theft go because they stopped after we went after them. By that point, they'd caused us and numerous other adult studios considerable damage and had illegally distributed stolen content for a good, long while. Just as every single adult content producer is very aware of the damage caused by content theft, we firmly believe every single party guilty of stealing and illegally distributing content should be held accountable."
Today, the case took an interesting twist, as a party that was previously not heard from stepped forward with facts that are potentially damning for defendants David Griffiths a/k/a Tyler Roblan of tylersroom.net, the web hosting company MojoHost, and its CEO, Brad Mitchell.
The Dudevu.com domain name was previously registered to a person by the name of Gail Marion. In court documents filed earlier this year, Griffiths attempted to blame the operation of the site on Gail Marion, and MojoHost and Brad Mitchell both disavowed any knowledge of the inner workings of Dudevu. However, upon learning that the other defendants in the case were essentially using her as a patsy, Marion came forward with an affidavit, sworn under penalty of perjury, that not only did Griffiths run the site, but Brad Mitchell and MojoHost were not mere passive actors in the enterprise.
Marion's sworn statement contains a number of emails between her and Griffiths in which MojoHost and Mitchell's involvement seems to be much more active than their court pleadings suggest. "This certainly is important evidence," said Marc J. Randazza, Corbin Fisher's general counsel. "There was a while where we were not even sure that Ms. Marion existed. While Griffiths was claiming to us she was the party responsible for DudeVu's infringing activities, we suspected she was possibly an alias - a made-up name. We are pleased that she came forward, and we eagerly anticipate Brad Mitchell and David Griffith's statements once they read Ms. Marion's documents." In one such e-mail, Griffiths states to Marion he is, "... tired of taking the fall for Brad [Mitchell]...", who Griffiths then goes on to state was actually in charge of the DudeVu website.
If MojoHost and Mitchell are proven to have been active participants in the Dudevu venture, it would seem to be inconsistent with MojoHosts's prior public relations campaign in which MojoHost claimed that it would never host a tube site, given their commitment to the adult entertainment industry. However, Marion's documents suggest that MojoHost and Mitchell had provided Dudevu with free web servers and other support and, if e-mails sent by David Griffiths to Gail Marion are to be believed, that Mitchell himself may have controlled the Dudevu website at the time of the alleged infringements.
This comes on the heels of similar testimony being provided by individuals who spoke to Mitchell at various functions such as the Phoenix Forum. "We have a number of witnesses who have provided sworn statements that contradict what Mr. Mitchell has argued so far," said Randazza.