Personal Audio LLC is an East Texas shell company that gleaned national attention when it claimed it had the right to demand cash from every podcaster. The company was wielding a patent on "episodic content," which it said included anyone doing a podcast, as well as many types of online video.

Now the company is trying to walk away from its highest-profile lawsuit against comedian Adam Carolla, without getting paid a penny—but Carolla won't let the case drop.

In a statement released today, Personal Audio says that Carolla, who has raised more than $450,000 from fans to fight the case, is wasting their money on an unnecessary lawsuit. The company, which is a "patent troll" with no business other than lawsuits, has said Carolla just doesn't care since his fans are paying his lawyers' bills.

"Adam Carolla’s assertions that we would destroy podcasting were ludicrous on their face," said Personal Audio CEO Brad Liddle. "But it generated sympathy from fans and ratings for his show. Getting his fan base to continue to donate to his legal fund is a cynical exploitation of the publicity power he enjoys as an entertainer." He continued to say that Personal Audio was "quite surprised" Carolla turned down their offer:

Perhaps this is because he feels he can simply get his fans to fund his future and, now unnecessary, legal expenses. Or perhaps it relates to how he uses the case as material for his show. The fact of the matter is that Adam Carolla is asking people to donate money to him for a lawsuit that he no longer needs to defend. We would like his listeners to understand this situation when deciding whether or not to donate additional money to his cause.

According to Personal Audio, they've lost interest in suing podcasters because the podcasters—even one of Adam Carolla's size—just don't make enough money for it to care.

"[Personal Audio] was under the impression that Carolla, the self-proclaimed largest podcaster in the world, as well as certain other podcasters, were making significant money from infringing Personal Audio’s patents," stated the company. "After the parties completed discovery, however, it became clear this was not the case."

Personal Audio also says it has a patent covering playlists. The patent is owned by Jim Logan and "related parties." Logan is described as an "inventor and entrepreneur," who founded a company in 1996 to create an Internet media player. Logan's company failed, but nearly two decades later, his patents live on.

Forget podcasting—the money's in television

Personal Audio has already dropped its lawsuits against two other podcasting defendants from the case (Togi Net and How Stuff Works) apparently without getting paid anything. The cases were dropped without prejudice, which means they could be re-filed. A re-filing against the same defendants isn't likely, though, since Personal Audio has already slogged through initial stages of the lawsuit.

The patent company is charging ahead with its patent case against the big three television networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC. Personal Audio is trying to wring a royalty from those companies for releasing video "episodic content" over the Internet.

Jury trials are scheduled in both the Carolla and TV broadcasters' cases for September in federal court in East Texas. Despite its slowing docket, the Eastern District of Texas continues to be seen as a favorable venue for "patent trolls" to file suit, in part because cases are so likely to go to a jury.

In response, Carolla sent Ars a statement saying he'll continue to pursue counterclaims against Personal Audio, seeking to invalidate the patent "so that Personal Audio cannot sue other podcasters for infringement of US Patent 8,112,504." Lotzi (Carolla's company) has already "incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and expenses to defend itself" against the Personal Audio patents.

The statement from Carolla also says that "court orders prevent Lotzi and Adam from discussing the matter in further detail." A spokesperson wouldn't say what those court orders were. A review of the case docket doesn't show any court order that would prevent Carolla from responding to Personal Audio's main accusation, which is that he's essentially wasting his donors' money.

The Personal Audio patent was also used in patent demand letters sent to small podcasters, which earned the attention of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, none of those letters have been made public in more than a year, so Personal Audio may have dropped the idea of going after small fish. In any case, EFF has opened a second line of attack on the podcasting patent in the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent is going through a process called "inter partes review," where the office reconsiders whether it should have been granted.

If current scheduling holds, the patent will be put in front of a jury in the Texas case before the PTO challenge is completed.

Neither Carolla nor Liddle responded to further questions beyond their prepared statements.