5.2 KiB
Dear Github:
The Motion Picture Association, Inc. ("MPA") represents each of the major motion picture studios in the United States, specifically, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Universal City Studios LLC, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Netflix Studios, LLC, and their respective affiliates (collectively, the “MPA Member Studios”), which own or control exclusive rights under copyright in and to a vast number of motion pictures and television shows worldwide.
We are writing to notify you of, and request your assistance in addressing, the extensive copyright infringement of motion pictures and television shows that is occurring by virtue of the operation of the APK software MediaBox HD (the “APK”), which is hosted on and available for download from your repository Github.com (the “Repository”) at https://mediaboxhdandroid.github.io/android/ (the “URL”). Specifically, at the URL, the Repository hosts and offers for download the APK, which in turn is used to engage in massive infringement of copyrighted motion pictures and television shows.
Attached as Exhibit A is a representative list of infringements occurring via the APK – specifically, screenshots of some of the motion pictures and television programs that are owned or controlled by the MPA Member Studios, as they are being streamed without authorization through the APK. Exhibit A is provided as a representative sample of the infringements being committed as a result of the operation of the APK and to demonstrate the readily apparent nature of the massive infringement occurring thereon. Exhibit A is not intended to suggest that the identified infringements are the only ones occurring via the APK. Having been informed, through this representative list, of the nature and scope of infringements occurring via this APK, we hope that you will act appropriately to address all such infringement, not merely the identified representative examples. Fn: To further confirm that the APK is preconfigured for copyright infringement, for the first title in Exhibit A, we have included additional screenshots documenting the operation of the APK. Specifically, the screenshots demonstrate (1) downloading the APK from Github, (2) installing the APK on a user machine, (3) launching the APK, (4) scrolling down to a sample unauthorized title, and (5) clicking on the title to start an unauthorized infringing stream. The same process was followed to stream the other sample titles in Exhibit A. In all cases in Exhibit A, no modifications whatsoever were made to the APK.
Exhibit A, moreover, merely provides concrete examples of what is obvious from even a cursory review of the APK. By offering this APK for download, your Repository enables the APK’s blatant infringement of the MPA Member Studios’ copyrights and countless other copyrights. Indeed, copyright infringement is so prevalent on the APK that infringement plainly is its predominant use and purpose. See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 912 (2005); Arista Records LLC v. Usenet.com, Inc., 633 F. Supp. 2d 124, 155 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (defendants liable for direct and contributory copyright infringement where defendants operated computers that stored and distributed infringing content); Columbia Pictures Indus., Inc. v. Fung, No. 06-5578, 2009 U.S. Dist. Lexis 122661, at *56 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 21, 2009) (defendants liable for inducement of infringement where they operated a website that provided access to copies of plaintiffs’ works).
By this notification, we are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping your customer’s unauthorized activity. Specifically, we request that you remove the APK from your Repository or disable access to the APK on your Repository (at the URL, or otherwise) in accordance with either 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)(A)(ii) (DMCA “representative list” provision), 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A) (DMCA “repeat infringer” provision), and/or Github’s Acceptable Use Policy which prohibits use of your facilities for copyright infringement, see https://help.github.com/en/github/site-policy/github-acceptable-use-policies. Please note that, by this notice, the MPA Members are not addressing copyright ownership of the APK’s specific lines of code; rather, they are addressing the use of the APK as a whole to provide unauthorized, infringing access to streaming video content, and requesting that you remove or disable access to the APK as a whole on your Repository.
We are providing this notice based on our good faith belief that the use of motion pictures and television programs owned by the MPA Member Studios in the manner occurring via the APK is not authorized by the copyright owners, their agents, or the law. The information in this notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, we are authorized to act on behalf of the MPA Member Studios, which own or control exclusive rights under copyright that are being infringed in the manner described herein. This letter is without prejudice to the rights and remedies of the MPA Member Studios and their affiliates, all of which are expressly reserved.
If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone at [private], or via email at [private].
Regards,
[private]
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[private]