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Court denies retailer's attempt to use bankruptcy filing to skirt
liability
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Court instead ruled retailer must pay DISH, TVB, CCTV and CICC $4.4
million for copyright and trademark infringement
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Ruling underscores accountability of all players involved in piracy
and copyright infringement
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
A bankruptcy court in Florida has ruled that Amit Bhalla, a retailer of
IPTV streaming devices with unauthorized channels, cannot use a
bankruptcy case to shield himself from monetary liability for copyright
infringement.
In 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
issued a permanent injunction halting the unlawful distribution of
television content from programmers CCTV and TVB on TVpad devices. DISH
Network, which has exclusive rights to distribute much of CCTV's and
TVB's content in the United States (including through its Sling TV OTT
service), and CICC, an affiliate of CCTV, were also plaintiffs in that
underlying lawsuit,
which began in 2015. The plaintiffs alleged that the manufacturers and
distributors of the TVpad device set up a pirate broadcasting network
designed to stream CCTV and TVB channels without authorization.
The court ordered manufacturers and distributors of TVpad to pay $55
million in damages to DISH, TVB, CCTV and CICC, and the injunction
prohibited retailers from distributing, advertising, marketing or
promoting TVpad and comparable devices that deliver CCTV's or TVB's
copyrighted content.
Rather than accept responsibility for his actions, Amit Bhalla chose to
file for bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid being held financially
accountable. Citing Bhalla's willful and malicious conduct, the
plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the Middle District of Florida. The court granted the motion,
and Bhalla must now pay plaintiffs $4.4 million for copyright and
trademark infringement.
"This ruling sends an important message to retailers who think they can
get away with profiting off pirated content: you will eventually be held
accountable, and a bankruptcy filing will not protect you," said Samuel
Tsang, vice president, Operations for TVB USA. "Our hope is that, as a
result of this ruling, retailers will stop selling content obtained
through illegal means and instead serve their customers with legal,
reliable content and devices."
About TVB USA
TVB USA's parent company is Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), the
largest and most popular producer of Cantonese-language television
programming in the world. TVB USA also offers various TVB channels in
Mandarin, Vietnamese and English to meet the different needs of
Chinese-speaking viewers in the U.S. All the best programming from TVB
that originally aired in Hong Kong and Taiwan is broadcast by TVB USA in
the United States on more than 10 different channels. Visit www.tvbusa.com.
About China Central Television
China Central Television (CCTV) is the National Network of the People's
Republic of China and it is one of China's most important news broadcast
companies. Today, CCTV has become one of China's most influential media
outlets. Currently CCTV is distributing seven international channels in
the U.S., which include Chinese, English and Spanish, covering almost
every aspect of the Chinese social life. It is an important window for
the world to find out more about China. CCTV is making efforts to become
a global media network with increased international influence. Visit www.cctv.com.
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries, provides
approximately 13.332 million pay-TV subscribers, as of June 30, 2017,
with the highest-quality programming and technology with the most
choices at the best value. DISH offers a high definition line-up with
more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels and
award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is a
Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com.
Sling TV L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network L.L.C., provides
over-the-top television services, including general market, Latino and
International live and on-demand programming. Sling TV is the number one
live over-the-top service based on the number of OTT households as
reported by comScore as of April 2017. It is available on smart
televisions, tablets, game consoles, computers, smartphones and other
streaming devices. Sling TV provides more than 300 channels in 22
languages, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic and Punjabi. Visit www.Sling.com.
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Source: DISH Network Corp.
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