Two new copyright actions were filed the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington by CELL Film Holdings, LLC, which claims copyrights to the John Cusack/Samuel L. Jackson zombie-themed movie Cell.

As noted by Troll Defense in a post on similar Oregon CELL Film Holdings cases, Cell is based on a 2006 Stephen King novel of the same title about a signal sent out over the global cell phone network that transforms every cell phone user into a mindless killer.

CELL Film Holdings is an affiliate of Benaroya Pictures.  As noted in a prior Troll Defense post regarding affiliated film Queen of the Desert, Benaroya Pictures was founded by Michael Benaroya, son of a Seattle real-estate mogul, who began funding films in 2009, including past titles such as “New York, I Love You,” “The Romantics,” “Catch .44,” “Margin Call” and “The Words.”  As predicted then, the Cell lawsuits confirm Benaroya’s foray into a national, multi-title “troll-style” lawsuit campaign.

The new Cell lawsuits in the Western District allege copyright infringement by 21 “Doe” parties through their use of BitTorrent file-sharing software. Along with generic allegations of BitTorrent-based copyright infringement, the suits seek statutory damages pursuant to the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and costs, and an injunction against further infringement.

Like many other similar lawsuits filed in the Western District, these complaints were signed by attorney David A. Lowe of Lowe Graham Jones PLLC. A case listing with links to the complaints is below.

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

Filed: 07/15/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-01091 
CELL Film Holdings, LLC v. Does 1-11

Filed: 07/29/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-01180
CELL Film Holdings, LLC v. Does 1-10

Filed: 10/21/2016
Case No. 2:16-cv-01649
CELL Film Holdings, LLC v. Does 1-10