ABS-CBN Corp. headquarters in Quezon City. Fernando Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

MANILA - A US court has awarded ABS-CBN advertising revenues illegally earned by 32 websites that pirated its content as well as ownership of their domain names, the network said.

The Philippines' largest media and entertainment network called the decision a landmark victory against piracy in the US.

District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga also awarded ABS-CBN over $1 million in statutory trademark infringement damages and ordered several of the pirate sites to pay ABS-CBN copyright infringement damages.

ABS-CBN is the first copyright holder to have been granted advertising revenues from pirate sites through advertising networks such as Google Adsense and MGID, according to trade publication Torrent Freak.

In a story titled “Media Giant Keeps Seized Revenue from Pirate Sites”, TorrentFreak Founder and Editor-in-Chief Ernesto Van Der Sar cited how ABS-CBN "has already won several cases, with damages ranging from a few hundred thousand to millions of dollars."

He cited how injunctions granted by US courts in the lawsuits "are perhaps even more significant.”



“We previously covered how ABS-CBN managed to get court orders to seize domain names, without the defendants getting actively involved,” wrote Van Der Sar.

“This is also the case in a recent lawsuit where a Florida federal court signed a broad injunction targeting more than two dozen sites that offered the company’s content," he said, citing domain names illegally offering ABS-CBN shows that have been suspended.

“What’s most interesting, however, is that the advertising revenues of these sites were previously frozen. This was done to ensure that ABS-CBN would at least get some money if the defendants failed to respond, a strategy that seems to have paid off," read the Torrent Freak piece.

Van Der Sar cited US District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga's recent order awarding more than $1 million to the company "in statutory trademark infringement damages" plus previously seized advertising revenues.

“This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a copyright holder has been granted advertising revenue from pirate sites in this manner,” he said.



"This could be a common legal tactic going forward because, generally speaking, it is very hard to get money from defaulting defendants who are relatively anonymous, or living in a foreign jurisdiction,” Van Der Sar added.

ABS-CBN said it has intensified anti-piracy efforts over the last 3 years under former ABS-CBN Global COO Raffy Lopez, currently executive adviser to the company's President and CEO, with the hiring of AVP and Head of Global Anti-Piracy Elisha Lawrence.



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