why would we make something up during ongoing litigation jace? take our word for it.

I dont know how it all works and I stay away from celeb stuff in general - but dont most of the sites like Mr Skin get away with it because it becomes 'newsworthy' and they say they are a news site.

Dosnt the Paris vid come under that banner and be used as a defense?

The video first showed up on the net in 2003.
Exclusive license to xpays was in 2004.
HotelHeiress come into existence in 2004.

So he asked a question and pretty much had his facts in order..

The inacurate assumptions would be?

That Rick Salomon gave up any rights when he did not. The video is registered with the u.s. copyright office.

HotelHeiress and TrustFundGirls are not "CELEB SITES" in the eyes of Visa for example. We have exclusive content and are a paysite/ppv as far as hh and tfg go. E! Television is a news site of sorts but they have signed doc's from XPays authorizing use of clips from the video. No special rights were ever authorized to any infringer to use our content for their commercial gain and to sell more memberships or make their current memberships more sticky nor to attract new webmaster affiliates.

so i must assume rick had a signed model contract from paris? either way i hope the guys you are sueing really have the full movie and not the lame 3 minute thing. i am not for infringing copyright, don't get me wrong. like i said it was just in the way it was handled. deliberately leaked out to create hype before xpays had anything to do with it and then once rick found someone willing to pay enough for exclusive rights some of the sites that helped the tape become such a household name get sued.

whoa- we have full rights and 2257 and all is legal over here obviously. assuming there is no contract or what not is just wrong.

Im not hating here honet - just suprised - you have signed docs for 2257 from Paris?

XPays would never ever have signed a contract to market the video otherwise. All is above board and regardless of public perception it's all business. The answer to your question is YES we have 2257 in hand and available for federal inspection during regular business hours here in San Francisco as well as in LA.

Thanks Evan - best that it be heard first hand anyway.

totally. it goes without saying that one can also see the confusion in the marketplace within some of the posts here in so much as the lack of understanding that because of the nature and unparalled popularity of our sex- video- the video is the most pirated and stolen content ever. so, we see confused webmasters who refuse to publish links to a legitimate revenue program due to the confusion caused by the pirates.

Please keep us posted as your document takes shape. You make very valid points.

Bet that was an expensive signature.. :)

obviously you couldn't have filed a lawsuit unless you had the rights but i think that about sums it up.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

yes- all confusion in the marketplace will hopefully be corrected.

Amazing how many webmasters are ignorant on intellectual property laws.

This is not 1996 any longer.

Evan I hope you make all copyright violators pay in full! These thieves hurt the entire industry. They hurt honest programs like Lightspeed, Bang Bros and others who spend millions on content.

People who steal content have an instant profit margin built in, that hurts honest, legal companies.

Well put and thanks for your support Michael- it is also perplexing to me that some of the industry fails to grasp the benefits of the u.s. constitution.

MrSkin.com (and its parent company SK Intertainment, Inc.) response to XPays Complaint

CHICAGO, IL -- 09/15/2006 -- MrSkin.com, and its parent company SK Intertainment, Inc., have been in business since 1999. The face of the website, Mr. Skin, has reviewed movies for nudity since 1996 on radio stations across America as well as VH1, E!, the BBC, magazines and more. The website has promoted, through reviews, the sales of millions of dollars of movies per year and continues to do so. The website gets 5-6 Million Unique visitors per month. A vast number of movie studios and distributors submit their films to the site for review and promotion.
SK intertainment, Inc. has developed an uncompromised reputation for adhering to the strictest ethical standards and business practices. We have reviewed the complaint and find it to be without merit. We intend to defend our position vigorously and are confident that we will prevail.

:) :) :)

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh Is that your legal defense?

Or just a PR spin?

Our claims are crystal clear in the complaint and I will now direct those who have not read the complaint to click the following link and inspect it:
XPaysComplaint.pdf

So errr...You're the only one with copyright to that vid?

Shit...I've used a good few celeb sponsors to promote it....Had no idea!

Please take a sec to email us the links to legal at xpays

Thanks in advance.

if you are more comfortable posting the url's, then please do--

Mr. Skin Responds to XPays Complaint

http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=17179

CHICAGO — SK Intertainment, the parent company of celebrity flesh site MrSkin.com, has fired back in response to a lawsuit filed by XPays in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Monday, alleging copyright and trademark infringement surrounding the infamous Paris Hilton sex tape.

SK Intertainment Vice President of Marketing Derek Meklir denied any wrongdoing on the company’s part with respect to allegations made by XPays in the lawsuit.



“SK Intertainment has developed an uncompromised reputation for adhering to the strictest ethical standards and business practices,” Meklir said. “We have reviewed the complaint and find it to be without merit. We intend to defend our position vigorously and are confident that we will prevail.”



XPays claims to hold the right to enforce any aspect of the Hilton video that passes over a network connection — a deal the company penned when the tape featuring a sexual tryst between Hilton and then-boyfriend Rick Salomon first surfaced online.



Other defendants named in the suit include CelebrityCash parent company ICG Entertainment, CelebsUnzipped parent Tarasant, FreeCelebrityMovieArchive parent Adult Profit, PaparazziFilth.com parent Web Traffic Inc. and Verotel Merchant Services, the billing company for CelebsUnzipped.



XPays is seeking permanent injunctive relief and more than $1 million in damages.



According to court papers, the defendants allegedly took images and derivative works from the Hilton video and used them in tours and on their sites, resulting in the dilution of exclusive content and unfair competition. Additional charges include violations of the Latham Act, fraudulent business practices, false advertising and libel.



The term “Hotel Heiress” is trademarked by XPays, as well as all derivative works from the video and the box cover.

There are three main types of copyright infringement; willful, vicarious and contributory. It is a crime to knowingly use someone elses copyrighted work without permission. The law is very specific in this area that is whole purpose of copyrighting your works in the first place.

Even if you sent traffic to a site that had copyrighted works that the site owner did not have a license for, you could be held liable as an infringer. This case is much larger in scope then is currently being stated.

Understanding the little I do about the Federal Court system, especially in the Central District of California which is where this case was filed, I can tell you that unless there is a settlement, this will go on for the next year and half at least. You cannot get on a Federal judges docket in less then a year.

It amazes me that some think that we are not goverened by the same laws on the Internet that we are in day to day life in the US.

I dont know all of the facts but I rest assured that they will all be revealed and made a matter of public record during discovery; that will ultimately tell the tale of who did what. There are so many parties in this it will take time to show who did what with whom.

As I said on another board, 2006 and 2007 will be the years that we all get schooled in copyright law, record keeping and accountability.