WWE Studios Finance Corp., the purported owner of copyrights to the 2016 film Eliminators, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against 14 Doe defendants in the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut.  This is perhaps the first foray by WWE Studios into “troll-style” copyright litigation, although the company has been active since 2002, typically in producing and marketing films featuring professional wrestlers known from WWE’s live promotions.

Eliminators is an action film starring Scott Adkins and WWE wrestler Wade Barrett.  The “direct-to-video” release was apparently not reviewed by most mainstream critics.

The Eliminators complaint makes typical allegations of copyright infringement via BitTorrent file-sharing software, with details regarding the several Does’ asserted common participation in a file-sharing “swarm.”  The lawsuit seeks statutory damages pursuant to the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and costs, and an injunction against further infringement.

And, as with hundreds other similar BitTorrent lawsuits filed in recent years, Voltage Pictures, LLC is the likely instigator, with a co-production credit on Eliminators. As with other similar cases filed in the District, the WWE Studios case was filed by Jan I. Berlage of Gohn Hankey Stichel & Berlage LLP in Baltimore, MD.  Below is a case listing with link to the complaint.

Filed: 04/06/2017
Case No: 3:17-cv-00572
WWE Studios Finance Corp. v. Does 1-14

Parties and subscribers receiving ISP notices of the case can contact attorney Benjamin Justus for a free consultation regarding possible options.