Various film companies filed batches of copyright lawsuits in the U.S. District Court, District of Oregon.

Plaintiff A&T SPVH, Inc.’s new lawsuits involve the 2014 film, The Humbling, which stars Al Pacino, in what Variety describes as a “free-form adaptation of Philip Roth’s penultimate novel, about a star of stage and screen beginning to lose the tricks of his trade (and possibly his grasp on reality).”

The cases filed by Automata Productions, Inc. make claims based on Automata, the 2014 dystopian sci-fi picture, with Antonio Banderas.

Several additional cases involve the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club, which is the subject of hundreds of prior lawsuits filed by Dallas Buyers Club, LLC in the Oregon District Court and around the nation.

The common denominator among the new lawsuits seems to be the three plaintiffs’ common association with Voltage Pictures, LLC and Millennium Films.

The complaints in the A&T SPVH and Automota Productions lawsuits allege that each company “is an affiliate of Nu Image / Millennium Films, production companies and distributors of a notable catalog of major motion pictures.”  In addition to Automata and The Humbling, several other films distributed or produced by Nu Image/Millennium have been the subject of prior enforcement actions, including The Expendables, Charlie Countryman (the owner of which film also filed a recent lawsuit), and Bad Lieutenant.

Voltage Pictures is a co-producer of Dallas Buyers Club and has claimed rights to trademarks associated with that film in many prior lawsuits.  Voltage had some role in Charlie Countryman‘s production, as previously reported.  Also suggesting a common enforcement strategy has been in effect, Voltage just hired a former Nu Image / Millennium distribution executive to assume a similar role with Voltage.

Each of the lawsuits names a single Doe party as defendant and seeks statutory damages under the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief.  The cases were filed by attorney Carl D. Crowell of Salem, OR.

UPDATE (12/8/15): A more recent Automata Productions case joins together the company’s claims against 6 separate Doe parties.  As discussed in a prior post, this indicates a continued effort by Crowell Law and its film company clients to return to a prior pattern of multi-Doe lawsuits in Oregon, based on allegations of common infringing conduct and permissive joinder.

Listings of the cases, together with links to complaints, are as follows:

Case No. 3:15-cv-675
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.237.177.28
Filed: 04/21/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-676
A&T SPVH, Inc. v. Doe-24.22.60.250
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 6:15-cv-695
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-74.95.35.73
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 6:15-cv-696
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-24.20.132.25
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 6:15-cv-697
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-71.193.244.148
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-700
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-71.56.146.148
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 6:15-cv-701
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-67.170.134.41
Filed: 04/24/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-726
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-67.171.138.225
Filed: 04/29/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-728
A&T SPVH, Inc. v. Doe-24.21.212.25
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-729
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-24.22.0.68
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-730
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. 71.237.224.252
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-731
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-71.237.192.131
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-732
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-76.115.172.90
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-733
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-73.25.80.53
Filed: 04/30/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-972
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-24.21.126.146
Filed: 06/03/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-973
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-98.246.148.255
Filed: 06/03/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-974
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-24.21.102.222
Filed: 06/03/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-1039
Countryman Nevada, LLC v. Doe-71.236.225.81
Filed: 06/11/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-1042
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-73.11.30.186
Filed: 06/11/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-1043
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-73.25.103.153
Filed: 06/11/2015

Case No. 3:15-cv-1081
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-76.115.58.222
Filed: 06/17/2015

Case No. 6:15-cv-1080
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-76.115.132.109
Filed: 06/17/2015

Case No: 3:15-cv-01327
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-98.246.113.34
Filed: 07/17/2015

Case No: 3:15-cv-01329
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-73.164.247.135
Filed: 07/17/2015

Case No: 6:15-cv-01388
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-50.188.157.254
Filed: 07/24/2015

Case No: 3:15-cv-01547
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-73.25.43.35
Filed: 08/14/2015

Case No: 3:15-cv-01631
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-76.115.8.56
Filed: 08/28/2015

Filed: 10/30/2015
Case No: 3:15-cv-02056
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-71.237.199.92

Filed: 11/29/2015
Case No: 3:15-cv-02227
Countryman Nevada, LLC v. Doe-98.246.177.239

Filed: 12/07/2015
Case No: 3:15-cv-02283
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-76.115.142.228 et al

Filed: 03/23/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00490
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-24.20.153.7

Filed: 03/27/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00526
Countryman Nevada, LLC v. Doe-98.246.20.92

Filed: 03/30/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-00551
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-71.238.61.141

Filed: 06/14/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01080
Automata Productions, Inc. v. Doe-76.27.237.16

Filed: 06/27/2016
Case No. 3:16-cv-01309 
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-76.115.169.128

Filed: 02/11/2017
Case No. 3:17-cv-00238
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Doe-50.139.102.235