ACE wins $50m damages and injunction against Omniverse

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has won $50 million in damages and a permanent injunction against Omniverse, a live TV streaming service.

In an announcement yesterday, November 12, ACE, a global network of film studios and entertainment companies including Netflix, Warner Bros and Disney, said the US District Court for the District of California has ordered the streaming service to permanently cease all operations, and banned it from operating any similar services in the future.

Omniverse was a major supplier of unauthorised streams of copyrighted movie and television content, feeding numerous illicit piracy services and undermining the legitimate streaming market, ACE said.

Karen Thorland, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at the Motion Picture Association (an ACE member), said the judgment is a major win for creators, audiences and the legitimate streaming market, which Omniverse “undermined for years with its back-office piracy infrastructure”.

“It also builds on recent ACE legal victories over illicit piracy operations, strengthening the legitimate market for film, video, and live TV that gives audiences more choices than ever while supporting millions of American jobs,” Thorland said.

The dispute dates back to February, when ACE first filed an action against Omniverse for copyright infringement.

Earlier this year, TBO reported that operators of a Uruguay-based piracy website have been sentenced to three years and four months in prison after complaints from ACE and the Motion Picture Association.

ACE said the pair ran Pelispedia, which is among the top 100 most visited websites in Latin America. Pelispedia, which distributed pirated films and TV shows, received more than 40 million visits per month.

Additionally, ACE said authorities seized approximately $500,000 worth of assets from the couple. The assets have been transferred to Uruguay’s government, as per the country’s money-laundering laws.