Steven Paul Found Liable for Copyright Infringement Over Counterfeit DVDs

Producer Steven Paul — who is alleged to be amongst suitors to take management of Paramount World and has a deal to co-produce and finance movies with the Nationwide Amusement-controlled firm — has been discovered answerable for copyright infringement in a lawsuit accusing him of producing and distributing counterfeit DVDs of faith-based movie I Imagine, a jury has concluded.

A Riverside jury on Thursday ordered Paul and his affiliated distribution firms Echo Bridge Acquisition Corp and SP Releasing to pay roughly $150,000 to unbiased manufacturing firm, Harvest Help, which introduced the lawsuit.

In an announcement, Echo Bridge vp Matt Otto stated the choice will probably be appealed. “Regardless that the quantity is small and has no impact on our companies, Echo Bridge is clearly upset within the end result on this nuisance go well with and we’re shocked at a jury choice opposite to the proof,” he added. “We’ve by no means even been accused of pirating DVDs and it’s unthinkable that we’d ever accomplish that particularly when we have now free entry to actual ones, as on this case. Often juries get issues unsuitable. I watched the trial, and this a type of unlucky occasions.”

The protection moved for a mistrial, which will probably be thought-about at a July listening to.

SP Releasing didn’t reply to requests for remark.

In an announcement, Stephen Doniger, a lawyer for Harvest Help, stated, “Our consumer is so appreciative of the jury’s time and exhausting work. We’re thrilled to have been in a position to maintain Defendants to account for his or her infringement of the movie I Imagine and hope this case sends a message that even unbiased movie makers and different artists of restricted means have recourse to guard their rights.”

Paul is extensively often called producer of unbiased movies, with credit on Child Geniuses, Ghost Rider and Ghost within the Shell. In June, Paul’s group vying for management of Paramount despatched a letter to Nationwide Amusements Inc. stating that he had the required funding to accumulate a majority curiosity within the holding firm, Bloomberg reported.

In accordance with the grievance, Harvest Help in 2017 entered into an unique distribution settlement with Wax Works to fabricate DVDs of I Imagine. Wax Works subsequently agreed with Paul’s SP Releasing to promote DVDs of the film at Walmart.

The lawsuit revolved round accusations that Paul and his firms made counterfeit DVDs after the primary batch bought out on the retailer. Regardless that Harvest Help solely supplied 39,400 genuine discs, accounting information confirmed that no less than 46,000 DVDs had been shipped to Walmart, in line with the grievance. Some discs, nonetheless, had been returned.

After counterfeit DVDs had been returned from Walmart, the grievance additionally alleged that Paul resold them.