Amazon, Netflix And Hollywood Studios Press Judge To Shut Down TickBox

[Len]

The major Hollywood studios, along with Amazon and Netflix, are pressing a federal judge to prohibit TickBox from distributing an over-the-top device that allegedly induces consumers to stream pirated video.

"TickBox TV utilizes illicit software tools that scour the Internet for sources of infringing content and deliver links to those infringing sources to TickBox’s customers," the studios allege in papers filed Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald in the Central District of California. "TickBox is intentionally inducing infringement, pure and simple."

The studios first sued TickBox in October, alleging that the company's devices allow consumers to stream pirated programs. "The device provides the hallmarks of subscribing to authorized streaming services, with one notable exception: the customers only pay money to TickBox, not to Plaintiffs and other content creators upon whose works TickBox’s business depends," the studios alleged in their original complaint.

TickBox TV is powered by Kodi -- open-source software that enables people to play video; TickBox also uses add-ons that allegedly "scour the Internet for illegal sources of copyrighted content and return links that enable TickBox TV customers to view unauthorized streams of popular motion pictures and television shows."

The studios say that TickBox's installation program gives consumers options to view a host of pirated content, including movies that are currently in theaters.

"A TickBox TV customer who selected Fox’s Murder on the Orient Express ... on November 22, 2017, would have been presented with 179 different unauthorized sources from which to stream Murder on the Orient Express," the studios allege in their request for an injunction.

When the lawsuit was filed, TickBox said on its website that users can "effortlessly connect" the gadget to their TV sets, turn it on, "and explore the largest online media library on the planet."

TickBox has since revised the language on its site and user interface. But the studios say the company is still liable for copyright infringement, despite the "cosmetic" changes to its site.

"Everything about TickBox’s interactions with actual and prospective customers demonstrates that TickBox intentionally induces the mass infringement of copyrighted works," the studios write.

They argue that they are entitled to an injunction for several reasons, including that TickBox is causing them "irreparable harm" by undermining the legal market for the material.

The company says on its site that TickBox TV "should not be utliized [sic] to download or stream any copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holder."

Fitzgerald is expected to hold a hearing on January 8.