Jefferson Graham

USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES -- Comedian Adam Carolla complains loudly on his podcast about his copyright infringement case by a "patent troll."

The litigant, Personal Audio, offered to dismiss the case, the company said Tuesday. But Carolla refused the offer, and is continuing to raise funds to fight on Fundanything.com.

"The fact of the matter is Adam Carolla is asking people to donate money to him for a lawsuit he no longer needs to defend," says Brad Liddle, CEO of Personal Audio, in a statement.

Carolla regularly asks listeners to chip in to help him raise $1.5 million to fight the case; he's so far brought in $457,000. E-commerce giant Amazon contributed $20,000.

In an earlier interview with USA TODAY, Carolla said Personal Audio originally asked for $3 million to settle the case. When faced with the suit, Carolla said he chose to fight.

"Obviously, $3 million is out of the question," he said. "But even if they said tomorrow, 'Give us $100,000, and this will all go away' — $100,000 for what?"

The fine print: PA offered to dismiss "with prejudice," which would allow the company to file other infringement suits in the future, if it so chooses. Carolla's team declined.

Carolla's team said it has incurred "hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and expenses," to defend itself against the case, and it intends to defend itself in court, and pursue counterclaims against Personal Audio.

PersonalAudio, based in Beaumont, Texas, has a handful of employees working on new technologies. The company has no products but instead owns patents and investments in several companies, including consumer tech company Bringerr.

Personal Audio says it filed a patent in 1996 for the concept of offering personalized entertainment via the Internet that can be accessed at any time, including podcasting, and streaming video.

For its lawsuit, Personal Audio targeted Carolla, podcasters HowStuffWorks and Togi Net, as well as broadcasters CBS, Fox and NBC.

PA has since dismissed Togi and HowStuff Works, and is continuing its battle with the broadcasters.

The company says it realizes there isn't as much money in podcasting as it originally thought.

"Adam Carolla's assertions that we would destroy podcasting were ludicrous on their face," Liddle says. "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."

The trial begins Sept. 9 in Marshall, Texas.

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