Showbox Site Owner to Pay $150k to Film Producers in Settlement Case
Last updated September 27, 2021
- Owner of the “latestshowboxapp.com” website has agreed to pay filmmakers $150k.
- The Hawaii federal court processed the settlement case, and also issued a permanent injunction.
- The site owner tried to convince the court that he wasn’t aware of the illegal nature of the Showbox app.
The Hawaii Federal Court has issued a consent judgment to settle the case between the owner and operator of a Showbox website and a coalition of film producers. The problems for Showbox go back to December 2018, when the Showbox and Moviebox apps went offline following immense legal pressure. Back then, the move caused a great disturbance in the piracy scene, as apps like Showbox enjoy immense popularity due to their user-friendly interface, content selection, and overall simplicity. In spite of what was going on, the owner of Showbox remained hopeful that they were going to get out of trouble soon.
While the original developer may still remain hidden, the copyright owners managed to find the identity of owners of websites that distribute the app, like the Pakistani Qazi Muhammad Zarlish. The coalition of the film producers that fueled this legal proceeding includes the notorious Hunter Killer Productions, TBV Productions, Venice PI, Bodyguard Productions, and the LHF Productions. These are the owners of the copyrights of the films “Hunter Killer”, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, and “London Has Fallen”, three films that have caused trouble to many pirate platforms recently.
In addition to the $150000 that Mr. Zarlish has agreed to pay to the film producers, there’s also a permanent injunction that will ensure the defendant will never get back to the same business. The apps that Zarlish is banned from promoting and distributing in the future also include the popular Popcorn Time, Cinemabox, Terrarium, Mobdro, and more. The defendant claimed that he thought that Show Box was a legitimate application that wasn’t infringing any copyrights, so he pretends that he had no idea that he was facilitating piracy. This wasn’t accepted by the judge of course, and thus a settlement was approved.
Right now, there are no websites that actively promote and distribute the Showbox app, as the film producers are on the trace of the original developer, and everyone involved will be bashed along the way. Besides the legal trouble that one can sustain, the filmmakers’ hunt has caused disturbance to the Moviebox and Showbox service, as the apps have to change servers and find safer infrastructure in order to avoid getting caught. This has made the pirate service unreliable for the consumers, so not many are finding compelling reasons to keep promoting them on their websites.
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