Porn producers have filed thousands of lawsuits against file sharers in 2010, but the lack of success in court causes a divide in the industry about the right approach to mass piracy.  Some studios and producers continue to challenge copyright infringement in courts, while others believe it’s time to adopt a different strategy.

The producers behind "Batman XXX: A Porn Parody" had targeted some 7,000 people for downloading the movie with a single lawsuit, but a U.S. District Court ruled in late December that the cases could not be joined. The plaintiff would have to file a separate lawsuit against each and every individual file sharer. Also, a judge can only handle complaints about users that reside within the jurisdiction of that court.

As these recent court decisions are a confirmation of earlier rulings, this leads more and more people to the believe that there is no point in complaining about illegal downloading of adult films by consumers anymore. Piracy of pornographic content is too widespread and the amount of illegal copies is simply too large to handle individually.

Allison Vivas, president of the California-based porn studio Pink Visual is one of them. Vivas told the New York Times that, following the recent court defeats of her colleagues, she will not engage in mass lawsuits against consumers. Still, Pink Visual cannot give up on piracy. The company is raising awareness among their customers about the effects of file sharing, and will concentrate on fighting the bigger X-rated sites that offer free streaming of unlicensed footage.

In addition, Vivas says the porn industry needs to adapt. Expensive subscriptions are not attractive to customers, if they can freely download films online. Pink Visual is now developing products that cannot be copied, using the possibilities of social networking sites and real-life experiences.

Also, the marketing of short movies for $3 to $6 a file could lead to a viable business model for Pink Visual, as a similar strategy seems to work for Apple’s iTunes. Vivas hinted the New York Times that Pink Visual will introduce such a new service later this month, where consumers pay once for a clip, then access it anywhere and from any device. 

Source: New York Times