The Truth about why Culpepper IP is sending settlement demand EMAILS to YTS users.

culpepper-settlement-demand-emails

Kerry Culpepper of Culpeper IP has achieved the impossible. He has figured out a way how to send Settlement Demand Emails to internet users who are accused of downloading his clients’ copyrighted movies. He has accomplished this without a copyright infringement movie lawsuit, without a Hawaii Rule 521(h) subpoena, and without asking Cloudfront or Google Analytics to hand over the IP address information.

Instead, he simply got YTS to hand over the IP address logs and e-mail addresses of those who registered with the YTS websites!

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How is Culpepper IP sending settlement demand emails without a lawsuit and without an ISP subpoena?

Accused internet users who are receiving settlement demand letters from Culpepper IP at-least-once went onto the YTS.LT and YTS.AM (“YTS”) websites and registered accounts with them using their real e-mail address (how much do you trust your piracy bittorrent-based website now?). THIS appears to be how he has been able to send them settlement demand letters without any courts, no judge oversight, no subpoenas, and no lawsuits.

joshua-lee-culpepper-ip-settlement-demand-emails
AchinVerma / Pixabay

Why did I refer to Culpepper IP’s settlement demand letters as being in an “Ashley Madison” / “Pornhub” fashion?

ASHLEY MADISON HACK (2015)

The Ashley Madison hack was pretty horrible for those who were exposed by the hack. Many married men and women signed up for the site [and paid a membership fee] using their REAL NAME, E-MAIL ADDRESS, and CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.

When the Ashley Madison hack happened in 2015, hackers stole their database containing 32 million people who used their website. No doubt this ended many marriages (which were probably over anyway), but it demonstrated to the internet world that your private information isn’t private if the website you are trusting with your personal information turns that information over to nefarious individuals.

PORNHUB LAWSUIT (2017)

Similarly, in 2017, Pornhub was forced by a judge to provide the names, e-mail addresses, IP addresses, and other data exposing the identity of uploaders of pirated videos.  Again, from the Pornhub Lawsuit, we learned that we CAN get caught viewing streamed Tube-like videos.

NOW THE YTS STORY (2020)

The YTS 2020 story is a bit different. The visitors to the bittorrent website registered their real e-mail addresses and proceeded to download copyrighted films using bittorrent. Registered users again trusted their private information with the website and again, they have been betrayed.

Here, YTS provided IP address logs containing their user’s information to Culpepper IP, and as we expected, the settlement demand letters have started to go out.

Is Kerry Culpepper evil? Likely not.

Many would likely disagree with me here, but what Kerry Culpepper of Culpepper IP are doing on the surface appears to be merely two attorneys who are fighting piracy of their client’s films.

SETTLEMENT LETTERS “CHEAP” COMPARED TO HIS LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT AMOUNTS.

The settlement demand letters being sent out by Culpepper IP are not that expensive. They are asking for a settlement of $950. While $950 is no doubt a lot of money to many people, putting the settlement amount in context to the many thousands of dollars Culpepper has asked for in the past for one title, $950 is a bargain.

THESE $950 SETTLEMENTS *DO* COME WITH “STRINGS.”

What is noteworthy is that the $950 settlement comes with strings. As I have written many times already, Kerry Culpepper is a complicated attorney who thinks “at levels higher than the average person.” Without going into details, Culpepper is always thinking about the next step.

Here, his $950 settlements are not merely, “pay me and I’ll decide not to sue you in federal court for copyright infringement.” No. Rather, with his settlements, he is asking accused internet users to provide a signed declaration detailing:

  1. “which BitTorrent client you used to reproduce the motion picture;”
  2. “which website or business promoted the BitTorrent client to you;” and
  3. “whether or not your ISP sent you any warning notices concerning infringing activity.”

“LAWFARE”

Understanding that Kerry Culpepper is engaging in “lawfare” (legal war) against piracy-based websites, we at the Cashman Law Firm, PLLC suggest that Culpepper is using these $950 settlement demand e-mails to build a portfolio of evidence against the piracy-based websites.

[“Lawfare” is defined as using legal systems and institutions to achieve a goal. It can be the misuse of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or de-legitimizing them.]

Earlier this month, I wrote an article entitled, “Why Culpepper IP Is Engaging In A Takeover Of The Piracy Trade Names,” where I suggested that Kerry Culpepper is filing piracy-based trademarks as his own for the purpose of literally taking the domain names (and consequently, their traffic from the millions of internet users who visit their pages every day) and using it for his own purposes.

LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS

While I never know what Culpepper is doing, I can come to logical conclusions by simply looked at what he is asking for:

“which BitTorrent client…” — this provides data and evidence which he can use against the bittorrent companies.

“which website or business promoted the BitTorrent client to you…” — this provides evidence to allow him to go after companies like ShowBox, PopcornTime, and various websites and apps [all of whom have millions of users and who produce million of DOLLARS in ad revenue].

“whether or not your ISP sent you any warning notices concerning infringing activity.” — this is a dangerous one. ISPs have “safe harbor” rules which prevent them from being sued for activities that users engage in using their networks. However, it appears to me as if Kerry Culpepper intends to start suing the ISPs… which is BIG BUCKS for his movie clients if he succeeds.

OR, MAYBE NOT.

Obviously I could be thinking too much into all of this. Kerry Culpepper could just be an evil copyright troll who is trying to find new ways to make a quick buck for the least amount of effort… However, with all of his activities against YTS / 1337x.to, the trademark filings, and whatever else he has been doing, the simple answer is probably the one that wins out.

KERRY CULPEPPER HAS BIG PLANS.

settlement-demand-emails-joshua-lee-culpepper-ip
Matryx / Pixabay

[To follow-up on this article and see what else I have written on Kerry Culpepper, the easiest way is to simple do a search on my TorrentLawyer website for Culpepper IP and see what articles show up.]

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[CONTACT AN ATTORNEY: If you have a question for an attorney about what I have written here (or if you have received one of these settlement demand e-mails), you can e-mail us at [email protected], you can set up a free and confidential phone consultation to speak to us about your case, or you can SMS/WhatsApp us at 713-364-3476 (this is our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC’s number].

CONTACT FORM: If you have a question or comment about what I have written, and you want to keep it for my eyes only, please feel free to use the form below. The information you post will be e-mailed to me, and I will be happy to respond.

    NOTE: No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege (which keeps everything that you share confidential and private) attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together.  That being said, please do not state anything “incriminating” about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail.

    A word on Kodi Add-ons

    kodi-add-ons-amazon-fire-tv-image

    I just finished drafting the article entitled, “Why Kodi users are being sued for copyright infringement.” The purpose of writing that article was to voice the real threat that Kodi Add-ons which connect to IP address file sharing networks can get users sued in federal court for copyright infringement.

    [This follow-up article about Kodi Add-ons was written on 8/2/2017 (and I edited it in 2023 because of censorship). I never hit the “publish” button [probably because I wanted to add more information at the time], but I am doing so now because our firm regularly receives questions about Kodi add-ons. At the time I wrote this article, copyright infringements filed against users of the Kodi software was rare, but I foresaw that copyright enforcement companies would begin using the behind-the-scenes capabilities of the add-ons to track users downloading movie content without a license.]

    IP address file sharing networks are generally bad news for end users these days.  There are already so many movie copyright trolls who are watching the IP address-based file sharing networks and are suing end users for copyright infringement, regardless of whether they actually did the download or not. There are even “common troll” copyright enforcement entities such as RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT (RIGHTSENFORCEMENT.COM) which [we understand] contact movie production studios and convince them to license the rights to enforce (think, “sue for copyright infringement”) the copyrights owned by the production company who made the failed movie. If you view RIGHTSENFORCEMENT’s site and click on “clients,” you’ll see a huge list of movies which, if acquired via unlicensed websites, can get the downloader sued for copyright infringement. This list of movies is growing, and Growing, and GROWING. In sum, stay away from bittorrent like the plague. It is filled with those looking to sue for the unlawful download of their copyrighted films.

    As for Kodi: The reason I did not like writing the article “Why Kodi users are being sued for copyright infringement,” was because while I do not condone, encourage, or cheer on those who violate the copyrights of others, I do have a “stake” in the copyright debate. Violating copyright is theft, and while I believe that much of the fault of copyright infringement falls on the content producers 1) for making unoriginal junk that does not succeed in the theaters (I call these “floppers”), and 2) for not properly making their copyrighted content available for lawful movie watchers to gain access to the copyrighted content (e.g., think, HBO and the Game of Thrones issue). It is my opinion that many would-be pirates would happily pay for content if it was more readily available (which is why Netflix and Amazon Prime are so successful).

    However, Kodi and the concept of “whether an internet user can get caught streaming music or movies” has always been an interesting topic for me. The reason for this is very simple — from a legal perspective, using file sharing software can get the downloader of unlicensed content caught because their IP address is exposed in the download of the content. However, Kodi (when tweaked) never used the IP address-based file sharing backbone. Rather, they STREAMED content which was being held unlawfully on some server that the copyright holders had a difficult time shutting down based on the DMCA laws, and where those servers were located. In other words, Kodi presented a technology challenge to those copyright trolls who sought to sue downloaders for the unlawful download of their films.

    A few months ago, I was intrigued by the PornHub lawsuits, where I discovered that by using a MPAA-friendly company such as Google, downloaders of even streamed music could get caught. I realized that copyright infringement lawsuits could be filed against internet users who STREAMED movie content, even though their viewing activities never touched a bittorrent network. Kodi [when tweaked] was the vehicle which made this content available, and Google Analytics was the mechanism copyright holders could use to unmask the IP addresses of the downloaders accessing the copyrighted content. Kodi + Google Analytics allowed copyright holders to bypass the file sharing networks altogether, and this is why it was such a hot topic for me as a defense attorney.

    Thus, I wrote the article “why (with the assistance of Google Analytics) a person CAN get sued streaming movies and copyrighted content,” (which exposed to me the future of copyright infringement lawsuits), and why even using Kodi on an Amazon Fire TV stick could get someone caught (even though this was a futuristic topic based on lawsuits that have not happened yet).

    So can you understand why I think this article (Why You CAN Get Sued Using Kodi Add-ons) is such a “cheap” topic for me? Obviously a plug-in which uses a file sharing backbone can get someone sued.

    In sum, the  article was not about getting caught using Kodi or getting caught streaming; rather, it is why you can get caught using file sharing software. There is nothing new to share here — a Kodi Add-on lawsuit is identical to the bittorrent lawsuit, and it should be treated the same way.

    [2020 UPDATE: This is where I ended the article. Again, I am posting this article for historical accuracy. Obviously we are 3 years later, but I still regularly get questions about whether it is safe to put Kodi on an Amazon Fire TV stick, and other such questions.]

    VIXEN – Not to be confused with a rock band, clothing line.

    strike-3-holdings-anonymous-settlement-vixen-blacked-tushy-deeper

    If you are here looking for VIXEN GROUP videos, you came to the wrong place. BUT *PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING TO YOUR VIXEN ADULT FILM VIDEO*. Vixen, along with Tushy, Blacked, and “Deeper.” are all website porn brands belonging to Strike 3 Holdings, LLC.

    If you are looking for the Vixen music band – the all-female rock band from the 80’s. They can be found at VixenOfficial.com.

    The Vixen Music Band also has a Vixen All-Female Rock Band Facebook Page.

    vixen-micheline-pitt-clothing-website

    MICHELINE PITT, HER CLOTHING LINE, AND RAINN

    On the topic of VIXEN PORN VIDEOS, there is a woman named Micheline Pitt who started a clothing line (more on this in a second). Pornography videos often scenes of abuse, sexual assault, or even rape, and I am happy to see that she is taking a stand against these.

    Micheline Pitt has started a campaign #VIXENNOTAVICTIM to bring awareness to survivors of sexual assault, rape, and abuse. For every piece of clothing that you purchase, Micheline Pitt will donate 30%-40% (or more) to RAINN to help survivors and prevent sexual violence.

    If you came here looking for Vixen porn, I am not “guilting you” into buying her clothing or making a contribution to RAINN (the “Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network”), but yeah — if you are providing clicks and ad revenue to the porn industry, at least spend a few dollars balancing things out and donating to RAINN or buying Micheline Pitt’s clothing.

    Just so it is said, Micheline Pitt’s website sells an interesting line of clothing called “VIXEN BY MICHELINE PITT,” which has “GOOD THINGS FOR BAD GIRLS – SIZES XS – 4X.” Her clothing lines include “PET SEMATARY,” “THIS IS HALLOWEEN,” “FLORAL AFFAIR,” and probably a number of others that I have not seen.

    In short, if you are watching Vixen porn videos, put some balance into the world and donate money or buy products which benefit those who are hurt and who have their lives ruined by the porn industry.

    WHERE TO FIND LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE VIXEN PORN VIDEOS

    If you are actually looking for Vixen porn videos (e.g., VIXEN GROUP adult film videos related to the Vixen Blacked, Tushy, and Deeper. brand names), you do not need to go to illegal sources which can get you sued.

    If you are looking for the VIXEN GROUP, the “legal” and legitimate source of the Vixen porn videos which will not get you sued, then click here.

    Vixen porn videos (along with the Tushy, Blacked, and “Deeper.” porn video brands) all belong to the Strike 3 Holdings, LLC copyright troll company. I am the owner of the Cashman Law Firm, PLLC and the TorrentLawyer.com website. I have been watching being getting sued almost daily for viewing these adult film videos since March, 2017.

    So please, do not become a victim of Strike 3 Holdings by downloading their Vixen, Blacked, Tushy, or Deeper. branded films… NOT from illegal sources (where you can provide them ad revenue), and NOT from legal sources by paying for their content.

    HOW DO THOSE WHO WATCH VIXEN PORN VIDEOS GET CAUGHT AND SUED?

    Those who watch porn videos usually get caught by downloading the videos using bittorrent software. “Tushy,” “Blacked,” and now “Deeper.” are all video brands owned by Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, and can be found [think, were LEAKED AND ARE MONITORED BY COPYRIGHT TROLLS] on the bittorrent websites.

    I don’t care which software you use: Bittorrent, uTorrent, Transmission, Vuze (Azurus), or any other software that uses BitTorrent.

    You visit a website, whether it is 1137x.to (or 1337x.gd), The Pirate Bay, or any other website that allows you to browse adult film torrents and download Vixen mp4 xxx files, you click on a link, and open up your bittorrent software and download the Vixen mp4 xxx movies. THAT is how you get caught downloding their porn videos.

    WHAT ABOUT THE TUBE WEBSITES WHERE I CAN STREAM VIXEN PORN VIDEOS?

    For many years, I was of the opinion that you would not get sued for viewing porn videos using the YouTube-like websites.

    Vixen porn videos (along with Tushy, Blacked, and “Deeper.” branded videos) are illegally shared on the internet using YouTube-like websites. I do not need to name them, because no doubt you can find them.

    Notably, however, are the Pornhub lawsuits where users using the Pornhub.com website to view Vixen, Tushy, or Blacked films were exposed and sued for copyright infringement.

    [I learned about in the context of analyzing whether someone can get caught for using the Kodi software, and more specifically, whether someone can get sued for putting Kodi software on an Amazon Firestick.]

    CAUGHT (MONITORED) BUT NOT SUED

    I believed that you could get caught watching porn videos [like Blacked, Tushy, Deeper., etc.] either through a plaintiff attorney sending a subpoena to Google Analytics, Cloudfront, or any other website plug-in company that tracks the IP address and activities of users who visit their site (be careful what trackers your Tube-like porn streaming sites use).

    However, once the plaintiff attorney gets the list of IP addresses of the Blacked porn site viewers, the plaintiff attorneys then needed to take the extra inconvenient step of filing one or more copyright infringement lawsuit in federal courts against “John Doe” defendants (the Blacked porn video viewers) who were assigned that particular IP address at that date and time.

    They would ask the court for “Expedited Discovery” (FRCP Rule 26), and then they would send subpoenas to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) forcing them to hand over the identities of their subscribers who viewed the Blacked or Tushy videos — their IP addresses would be the ones they were assigned on the dates and time they viewed or streamed the Blacked / Tushy / Vixen videos. Those porn video viewers would receive ISP Subpoena Notification Letters letting them know that they have been sued as a “John Doe” defendant in their copyright infringement lawsuit.

    Once the plaintiff attorney received the Blacked / Tushy / Vixen website visitor’s identities (which really were merely the account holders’ identities) from their ISPs, only then can the adult film Copyright Trolls (Strike 3 Holdings, LLC) begin to engage in the extortion portion of what is an elaborate settlement extortion scheme (settle for thousands or dollars or else we will NAME AND SERVE you in the federal court lawsuit).

    TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES AND LEGAL LOOPHOLES MADE MONITORING VIXEN PORN VIEWERS’ ACTIVITIES POSSIBLE.

    Creative plaintiff attorneys have found loopholes in the legal system to shortcut the “Expedited Discovery” two-step method of obtaining the identities of Vixen porn video watchers who visited a website and exposed their IP address causing them to be caught and sued.

    Instead of suing for copyright infringement in the federal courts, they sue in state courts (such as the Miami-Dade, Florida county court, the Maricopa, Arizona county court, or even St. Clair, Illinois county court). They sue using quasi-legal theories, such as equity or Bill of Discovery, and they ask the state or county court to reveal the identity of those accused of viewing, streaming, or downloading their client’s copyrighted videos.

    With the Blacked / Tushy / Vixen adult videos, VIXEN GROUP’s own Florida attorneys — Rachel Walker & Tyler Mamone — engaged in this kind of state-based lawsuit with their Miami-Dade County, Florida Bill of Discovery Strike 3 Holdings, LLC lawsuits. This is an ongoing problem for those who viewed or streamed Vixen, Tushy, Blacked, or most recently, “Deeper.” videos without a license.

    Kerry Culpepper of Culpepper IP (who appears to represent the conglomerate of movie companies who sue defendants for the copyright infringement of their lawsuits) skirted the federal courts as well. Culpepper did this by suing accused downloaders and exposing their identities using Hawaii’s Rule 512(h) rules.

    Most recently, Culpepper sent subpoenas to Cloudfront to determine which IP addresses viewed his movie clients’ films without a license.

    ADDICTION TO PORNOGRAPHY HELPLINES

    Nobody likes to talk about this topic, but it if nobody mentions it, you as the adult film viewer might not be aware of the problem.

    There *is* such thing as having an addition to pornography. Major sources have spoken about pornography addiction (albeit in a boring, medical kind of way), and popular groups such as Reddit’s “No-Fap” Support Group has been a great way to speak to others about what you might be going through.

    Other more formal groups include “Sexaholics Anonymous” (sa.org) or “Recoveries Anonymous” (r-a.org).

    As soon as you start spending losing hours at your computer viewing adult film websites, you might have a problem. Once your adult film viewing habits start interfering with your work and your everyday life (e.g., effects from lack of sleep, or relationship problems and the like), you might have a problem.

    Bottom line, pornography addiction is essentially a dopamine addiction where the affected person seeks a “dopamine high” which they get from pornography. It must be noted that other activities, e.g., running, sex, relationships, parenting, movies, etc. also provide dopamine highs as well.

    If you suspect you might need help for such a pornography addiction, then by all means, reach out to one of these groups. For privacy purposes, I might just create a fake account on reddit.com so that I can get help without pasting my name everywhere on my posts, but the official groups are set up to preserve your privacy and your anonymity as well.

    IN SUMMARY:

    OK, so you came here looking for Blacked / Tushy / Vixen pornography videos. I hope I have given you a few things to think about along the way.

    As an attorney and the owner of the Cashman Law Firm, PLLC, I support my family by representing clients who are sued by copyright trolls. This being said, if I could save you from being my client by NOT being sued in the first place, I would be just as happy with the result.

    If I could inspire you to take actions to heal the damage that pornography viewing causes — either through getting help through Reddit’s Pornography Addiction resources, by buying clothing and supporting companies like VIXEN BY MICHELINE PITT, or by outright making donations to RAINN (the “Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network”), you will help to take a stand against sexual abuse, sexual assault, or even rape.

    Lastly, no doubt YOU YOURSELF might not engage in these acts and your adult film viewing habits might be innocent, you cannot deny that there are others that watch pornography, and act out the abuse, sex acts, or rapes on those around them, willing or not.

    Whether it is the adult films (the pornography) which is to blame or those who engage in violent acts against others, by watching pornography YOU MUST CONSIDER that you give financial benefit (in the form of power, ad revenue, and sometimes outright cash) to the pornography industry by watching porn videos, legal or not.

    What you do with this information is up to you. Let’s hope you never need my services as an attorney.


    [CONTACT AN ATTORNEY: If you have a question for an attorney about what I have written here, you can e-mail us at info[at]cashmanlawfirm.com, you can set up a free and confidential phone consultation to speak to us about your situation, or you can call us at 713-364-3476 (this is our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC’s number].

    CONTACT FORM: If you have a question or comment about what I have written, and you want to keep it for my eyes only, please feel free to use the form below. The information you post will be e-mailed to me, and I will be happy to respond.

      NOTE: No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege (which keeps everything that you share confidential and private) attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together.  That being said, please do not state anything “incriminating” about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail.

      Why Culpepper IP Is Engaging In A Takeover Of The Piracy Trade Names.

      Pornhub lawsuit exposes the dangers of Google Analytics

      I just learned that Kerry Culpepper of Culpepper IP just filed the RARBG trademark — probably with the intent of suing the 10+ year old RARBG website for trademark infringement. How do I *NOT* comment on an underhanded action like this?!?

      I have been speaking about “copyright trolls” for over 10 years — Kerry Culpepper of Culpepper IP certainly has been the subject of our articles for many years now.

      …Whether Kerry Culpepper is suing internet users who use bittorrent on their computers to view, stream, or download copyrighted movies belonging to his movie clients… or

      whether his Culpepper IP law firm is suing CELL PHONE USERS for streaming movies using piracy apps…

      or whether Kerry Culpepper is using Hawaii’s Rule 512(h) to skirt the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure’s expedited discovery rules and expose the identities of ISP subscribers

      or whether his Culpepper IP is suing YTS / 133x.to bittorrent trackers and/or piracy websites

      or whether Culpepper is sending subpoenas to Cloudfront to determine which IP addresses viewed his movie clients’ films without a license (because like Google Analytics, Cloudfront tracks which IP addresses visit which sites)…

      Culpepper IP is the Hawaii-based law firm which is sending letters to internet users accused of VISITING a particular website, and downloading a movie which is copyrighted by his clients.

      CULPEPPER IP TRADEMARKS NOW FILED IN THE NAMES OF PIRACY WEBSITES

      Now Kerry Culpepper is filing Culpepper IP trademarks which directly conflict with the names of piracy-based websites, companies, and bittorrent trackers.

      To accomplish these new Culpepper IP trademarks, Culpepper is claiming that the piracy websites are not using the trademarked named in a way that can be recognized by the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) as lawful use.

      “Culpepper IP Trademark Claim: [The trademarked name] is not lawful use in commerce because the use of RARBG by the piracy websites is unlawful under federal law.”

      MY THOUGHTS ON CULPEPPER IP TRADEMARKS:

      As a registered patent attorney who has followed the rulings of the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) my entire law career, I absolutely MUST have faith that the USPTO’s Trademark Application examiners will see that Culpepper IP trademarks are merely an attempt to engage in a settlement negotiations against accused internet users in the federal courts.

      *9/17 UPDATE* – Alternatively, it has recently occurred to me that the Culpepper IP trademarks of the piracy website names will be used by Culpepper to take over the DOMAIN NAMES of the piracy-based websites. With millions of visitors each day, that kind of traffic can be worth millions of dollars to Culpepper and his clients, if only considering ad revenue.

      If he takes over the websites and diverts the traffic to begin PAYING for lawful copies of the copyrighted content, e.g., in a movie subscription-based service, again, this could be worth millions of dollars to Culpepper and his clients.

      kerry-culpepper-ip-trademarks Kerry Culpepper IP trademarks

      “A TRADEMARK APPLICANT STILL CAN REGISTER AN APPLE TRADEMARK AS LONG AS IT IS NOT IN AN AREA OF PRACTICE COVERED BY APPLE, INC.”

      I’ll say that again. A trademark applicant can still register the APPLE trademark name, even though Apple, Inc. already owns the APPLE trademark.

      How is this possible, you might ask? All trademark applications must include “Trademark Classes.” These trademark classes identify in what area the business or trade intending to use the trademark will be using the mark (trademark).

      Thus, if you are starting an “Apple” cleaning business where you intend to send your maid cleaning services to clean people’s homes, well, you are allowed to use the APPLE trade name.

      LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION

      To determine whether the applied-for trademark conflicts with (or “infringes upon”) an already trademarked name, the USPTO trademark application examiner will ask whether there is a “likelihood of confusion” between the already trademarked mark and the newly applied for trademark.

      In other words, if someone buying your APPLE cleaning services might think that you are affiliated with Apple, Inc. — the APPLE trademark holder who sells APPLE COMPUTER PRODUCTS, PHONES, …and the expanding list of everything else they do, well then your APPLE trademark application will be rejected.

      WHY CULPEPPER IP TRADEMARKS MIGHT FAIL

      Kerry Culpepper of Culpepper IP is also a patent attorney, meaning by definition that he likely also knows the “soft intellectual property” laws and rules cold. Thus, his Culpepper IP trademarks no doubt are following the trademark rules.

      If I were in Kerry Culpepper’s shoes and I was a “crafty” attorney, I would make sure that my Culpepper IP trademarks will claim to be a business PRACTICING IN AN AREA THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM and CANNOT BE CONFUSED WITH the piracy-based websites I intend on using for whatever profit motive Culpepper IP trademarks have in mind. Thus, I would use TRADEMARK CLASSES in my Culpepper IP trademarks that have nothing to do with what the piracy-based bittorrent websites are using.

      But Kerry Culpepper is brazen. Thus his Culpepper IP trademarks approach is also brazen.

      His Culpepper IP Trademarks list the TRADEMARK CLASS as “Downloadable computer software for downloading and streaming multimedia content images, videos and audio.” …EXACTLY what the piracy-based websites are doing.

      KERRY CULPEPPER IS ENGAGING IN A TAKEOVER OF THE PIRACY TRADE NAMES.

      In other words, his Culpepper IP trademarks campaign is engaging in a “legal takeover” of the RARBG TRADE NAME.

      Instead of claiming a different TRADEMARK CLASS, Kerry Culpepper is claiming the IDENTICAL business as the piracy websites are using. He is doing so by claiming that these piracy-based websites have absolutely no trademark rights because by definition, their operations are illegal (because they engage in copyright infringement).

      In other words, the anti-theft anti-piracy lawyer is “stealing” the trade names of piracy based websites and bittorrent trackers.

      WHAT CULPEPPER LIKELY PLANS TO DO IF HE SUCEEDS WITH HIS TRADEMARK FILINGS.

      Again, Kerry Culpepper is crafty, wicked smart (in a bad way), and is always many chess moves ahead of his opponents. I have no doubt that he is doing this for a very specific set of purposes.

      WHETHER KERRY CULPEPPER SUCCEEDS OR WHETHER HE FAILS, THIS AND THIS (SUCCESS *AND* FAILURE) ARE LIKELY BOTH HIS PLAN.

      IF CULPEPPER SUCCEEDS:

      IF CULPEPPER SUCCEEDS: If Kerry Culpepper and his Culpepper IP trademarks succeed in getting the piracy-based trademarks awarded to him, he will no doubt try to take over the RARBG domain names (along with the YTS and 133x.to domain names) claiming that he is the rightful trademark owner of them.

      By taking over the domain names, he will automatically gain the viewership of MILLIONS of internet users WHO WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE CONTENT his RARBG replacement website will happily provide them… legitimate lawful movie content for a per-title-fee or a monthly subscription.

      In other words, his Culpepper IP trademarks mission would be to convert MILLIONS OF PIRATES INTO PAYING CUSTOMERS. Is it no surprise that 42 Ventures lists Kerry Culpepper as the Director of this enterprise?

      [And unrelated, I cannot help but to think that 42 Ventures, LLC is the very COMMON COPYRIGHT TROLL entity that I have been writing about for so many years now?! Think, 42+ movie companies who are interested in shaking down those who view their copyrighted content without a license.]

      WHEN HE WINS, THE REAL PAIN WILL BEGIN

      Once Kerry Culpepper wins the rights to the trademark, then the real enforcement will no doubt begin. [Can a scorpion change its nature to sting?]

      I have no doubt that if his Culpepper IP trademarks campaign succeeds in getting awarded the trademarks, he will then approach the piracy-based website owners [who will likely be ignorant of the laws and will continue to use their trade name] and he will have them settle his claims against them for millions of dollars.

      He will then go after their internet users. He will obtain subpoenas to determine who the ISP internet subscribers are who were assigned that IP address visiting the piracy-based website [to which he now owns the trademark for], and he will assert copyright infringement and trademark infringement claims against each-and-every internet user who uses his newly-trademarked name.

      He could then ask for thousands of dollars from each internet user, and he could sue the ones who do not settle (or purchase his new services) in federal courts across the US.

      IF CULPEPPER FAILS:

      IF CULPEPPER FAILS: If Kerry Culpepper fails in getting the piracy-based Culpepper IP trademarks awarded to him, he will either change his approach [e.g., by claiming a DIFFERENT TRADE CLASS] and he will re-submit his trademark application and try again.

      Or, he will continue to go after internet users who visit the piracy-based websites. He will obtain subpoenas to ask Google Analytics or Cloudfront to share the IP address of the various users who visited the sites where his client’s movies were downloaded. He will then obtain their identity by determining who the ISP internet subscribers are who were assigned that IP address visiting the piracy-based website.

      Once he applies this two-step solution, he will assert copyright infringement against each-and-every internet user who visits the piracy page of his client’s copyrighted movie titles.

      ALTERNATIVELY:

      ALTERNATIVELY: Honestly, I do not know. When I wrote the article in 2017 explaining that a copyright troll can obtain the IP address of those internet users who visit their client’s copyrighted site using Google Analytics (or now, Cloudfront), I did not anticipate that an attorney would actually do this.

      There are so many thousands of users that STILL use bittorrent to download pirated movies, and the federal courts across the US are still happily entertaining bittorrent-based copyright infringement lawsuits (well, if I recall, not necessarily in Hawaii where Culpepper is located).

      Thus, the whole two-step approach [of 1) obtaining the IP address of the internet user who visited the piracy-based website by sending a subpoena to Google Analytics or Cloudfront, and then 2) sending a subpoena to the ISP to determine the identity of the IP address account holder who was assigned the IP address on that particular time] seemed extremely inconvenient. I actually thought it was prohibitive at the time, so I did not think it would be done.

      But Kerry Culpepper’s focus has not been only the end-users who viewed his client’s copyrighted titles without a license, but if I understand correctly, his focus is on soliciting multi-million dollar settlements from the piracy website owners, the seeders/uploaders of the copyrighted content, and those hosting the bittorrent trackers on their websites. In other words, the deep pockets. End-user internet users are merely a secondary “dessert.”

      THE UNKNOWN:

      THE UNKNOWN: I must also make mention that I honestly do not know what Kerry Culpepper is ever up to. As I mentioned above, he is wicked smart, and while he is brazen and makes no secrets as to what he intends to do, I can never figure out what the next FIVE OR TEN STEPS ARE that he has in mind. Because again, like a chess player, my experience in watching him over the years is that he is always thinking many steps ahead of his opponent.

      Thus, I *must* assume that his most recent trademark filings have plans for both IF HE SUCCEEDS and IF HE FAILS.

      I must assume that Culpepper has a plan why he wants to be rejected by the USPTO trademark examiner, e.g., so that he can USE that rejection AGAINST SOMEONE for some purpose he has already thought of (but that I cannot figure out).

      [Please Click to Tweet!]


      [CONTACT AN ATTORNEY: If you have a question for an attorney about what I have written here, you can e-mail us at info[at]cashmanlawfirm.com, you can set up a free and confidential phone consultation to speak to us about your DMCA settlement letter, subpoena, or lawsuit, or you can call us at 713-364-3476 (this is our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC’s number].

      CONTACT FORM: If you have a question or comment about what I have written, and you want to keep it for my eyes only, please feel free to use the form below. The information you post will be e-mailed to me, and I will be happy to respond.

        NOTE: No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege (which keeps everything that you share confidential and private) attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together.  That being said, please do not state anything “incriminating” about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail.

        Behind The Scenes Story: Motion To Quash Online Forms

        motion-to-quash-online-forms-story

        Behind the scenes story of our law firm’s first motion to quash experience.

        I was reviewing some of my older articles when I (in 2010) referenced a terrible-but-funny behind the scenes story that happened to one of the defense attorneys when he tried to sell motion to quash online forms. When I initially wrote the article, I did not share the story in its entirety because I was trying not to bring attention to the motion to quash online forms fiasco (and I was obviously feeling pain for the attorney to whom this happened). But now ten years later, I edited the article and wrote the details of story in its entirety there, and now here (in more detail).

        I hope I have this attorney’s forgiveness in sharing this story. I kept his name out of it, and his motion to quash online forms are no longer available for sale online.

        What happened in 2010 to this defense attorney and his motion to quash online forms?

        QUICK SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENED: In 2010, a defense attorney sold motion to quash online forms for a few dollars a copy. Someone pirated the form, everyone used it, and the plaintiff attorney asked the court to sanction the defense attorney. [Click to Tweet!]

        THE STORY:

        [I am pasting this snippet from the original 2010 article, with a few edits.]

        [We were trying to figure out what to do about the mass-bittorrent-defendant lawsuits…]

        In 2010, at the request of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a group of us attorneys were trying to figure out how to deal with the mass-bittorrent-copyright-infringement lawsuits. Specifically, we were trying to figure out what to do about the ISP Subpoena Notification Letters that the accused “John Doe” defendants received.

        [ISP letters suggested subscribers should file an “objection” with the court…]

        In those ISP Subpoena Notification Letters, the accused defendants were led to believe that they should file a motion to quash (or, an “objection with the court”) in order to preserve the anonymity of their identity.

        [The ISP letters said (and still say) that if they filed an objection with the court, the ISP would not hand over the accused defendant’s contact information to the plaintiff attorney.]

        [My approach…]

        The ISP letters neglected to say (and still neglect to say) that the objection they are referring to is called a Motion to Quash.

        LOOKING AT WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN, I REALIZED THAT FILING AN OBJECTION ALONE WOULD BE INSUFFICIENT, AND THAT THE DEFENDANT WOULD NEED TO PREVAIL IN COURT BY HAVING A JUDGE QUASH THE ISP SUBPOENA as to that John Doe Defendant.

        I analyzed the motion to quash question. “That was a bad outcome waiting to happen,” I thought.

        Thus, my approach was to realize that the motion to quash was a bad idea.

        […A Defense Attorney Differed, and Decided to Sell Motion to Quash Online Forms]

        Another attorney’s approach [bless his heart, even today he has my utmost respect] decided to make a few bucks per defendant [in 2010, the copyright infringement lawsuits had THOUSANDS of defendants per lawsuit filing]. This attorney decided to sell a “motion to quash” package containing motion to quash online forms that his customers — accused John Doe Defendants — could download and use (e.g., for $10 per document download).

        His logic was that his motion to quash online forms would make it easy for each defendant to file a motion to quash without needing to hire him as an attorney directly (saving him time and paperwork). And, because there are thousands of defendants per lawsuit, he would make “a few bucks” along the way… or else that was his plan.

        behind-the-scenes-motion-to-quash-online-forms-story
        Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

        […His plan did not work. An accused defendant bought his online form and uploaded it to the bittorrent network.]

        …I will never forget the uncontrollable laughter an attorney next to me experienced when he realized that this defense attorney’s “motion to quash” package was pirated and UPLOADED TO THE BITTORRENT NETWORK.

        Still rolling on the floor, “he made just seven sales, and his clients are all accused of copyright infringement. What did you expect them to do?” he said while trying to sit up and regain his composure.

        [Click to Tweet This Story!]

        [The end result: The defense attorney was successful in getting accused defendants to use his motion to quash online forms, but it tragically backfired…]

        As a result, many accused downloaders used this form to file motions to quash in this case (the case the article was written about). The plaintiff attorneys got mad at all of the extra paperwork this caused [because there were thousands of defendants], and they asked the court to sanction the defense attorney who sold the motion to quash online forms.

        IN SUMMARY.

        Again, that attorney (bless his heart) had such a rocky beginning in these copyright cases, and I understand that he is no longer representing clients in bittorrent-based copyright infringement cases. However, even years later, his name is still fresh in my mind, and with the recent Strike 3 Holdings, LLC Miami-Dade cases, I still tried to send him a few clients because he was licensed to practice in Florida.

        As for his motion to quash online forms — these were later adopted and modified (or supplanted) by a blogger called “DieTrollDie” in what he called the “Richard Pryor Response (RPR).”

        [Please click here to Tweet this article!]

        direction 1497322527
        geralt / Pixabay


        [CONTACT AN ATTORNEY: If you have a question for an attorney about anything I have written, you can e-mail us at info[at]cashmanlawfirm.com, you can set up a free and confidential phone consultation to speak to us about your case, or you can send a SMS / WhatsApp message to us at 713-364-3476 (this is our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC’s number].

        CONTACT FORM: If you have a question or comment about what I have written, and you want to keep it *for my eyes only*, please feel free to use the form below. The information you post will be e-mailed to me, and I will be happy to respond.

          NOTE: No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege (which keeps everything that you share confidential and private) attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together.  That being said, please do not state anything “incriminating” about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail.