FOR THE SECOND time in three years, an adult filmmaker celebrated Valentine’s Day by filing a batch of new copyright cases in federal court in San Francisco.

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC — known for its pornographic brands Blacked, Tushy, Vixen, and Blacked Raw — filed 14 lawsuits this Valentine’s Day. Two years ago it filed 15.

Each of the new cases alleged that a “John Doe” defendant, only identified by a string of numbers alleged to be an internet address, had illegally downloaded one of Strike 3’s films. In each case, Strike 3 advised the court that it was seeking $150,000 in damages.

The cases were virtually all the same and taken together constitute only a small part of a lucrative and growing nationwide copyright litigation business.

A Bay City News analysis has found that since 2017, Strike 3 has filed 17,168 of such cases in 39 federal district courts around the country. The number of cases in 2024 increased by more than 8% over 2023.

Filings in 2024 in the federal court in San Francisco remained relatively flat with just under 250 new cases commenced. But while the growth rate of new cases in the “mature” market of San Francisco is far below other newer districts, San Francisco retains its lead among all districts in the country with a total of 1,506 Strike 3 cases since 2017.

The Eastern District of New York (the counties of Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk) and the District of New Jersey (the entire state), follow with 1,369 and 1,279 cases respectively.

The cases are big business.

Separating John from his dough

BCN’s analysis shows that the cases do not linger in court for long. For example, Strike 3’s filings in in San Francisco in February of 2024 are all resolved today and the average time from filing to resolution for that batch was about five months, extremely quick by the standards of federal court litigation. Few cases are actively litigated.

Defense attorneys reported to BCN in early 2024 that most cases in the district settled in the range of $10,000 to $15,000.

Settlements are driven by several factors, but one important dynamic is that the John Doe sued in each case has to face the prospect that Strike 3 will be able to use the court process to connect John Doe’s internet address — the long string of numbers on the face of the complaint — to the actual person who has that internet address.

And once Strike 3 finds out who owns that IP address, it will demand a cash payment to make the case go away or force the defendant to face potentially large damages if the alleged infringement is proven and shown to be willful.

Another factor contributes to the quick resolutions.

Attorney Steve Vondran of San Francisco has handled close to 500 of the cases. His website states, “We Settle Cases Quickly, Quietly With A Low Flat Rate Fee!”

A screenshot of San Francisco-based copyright attorney Steve Vondran’s website, Vondran Legal. Vondran has played a role in arranging settlements for an estimated 500 clients targeted with copyright infringement litigation from adult entertainment company Strike 3 Holdings. “We have people that have really good jobs in really prominent companies,” Vondran says, “so, you know, it’s kind of shameful and they don’t want to be associated. So they’ll pony up a settlement to avoid that. …” (Screenshot via vondranlegal.com)

He explained one of the settlement dynamics: “We have people that have really good jobs in really prominent companies. So, you know, it’s kind of shameful and they don’t want to be associated. So they’ll pony up a settlement to avoid that, even sometimes when they think they haven’t done anything.”

While 2024 was a good year for new Strike 3 cases, there is no reason to think that its litigation business has run its course.

Records from the U.S. Copyright Office show that Strike 3 registered copyrights to 361 new adult titles in 2024, a 20 percent increase from 2023 and more new titles than any year since it began in 2017. It isn’t hard to predict that with more titles there will be more illegal downloads and more new cases.

Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.