On April 3, Columbia Pictures, Amazon, Warner Brothers, and other large media companies filed a copyright infringement complaint against Alejandro Galindo, the alleged owner of Nitro TV. The defendants accuse Nitro TV of illegally reproducing copyrighted content. This case is being held in the California Central District Court before Judge John A. Kronstadt.
Nitro TV is an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service that offers over 6,000 live channels for a monthly subscription fee of $20. It is accused of streaming popular shows and movies like The Office, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Toy Story 3, among many others. According to the complaint, “Defendants’ entire business amounts to nothing more than a brazen, large-scale copyright infringement operation, undertaken to maximize ill-gotten profits for as long as possible.”
The service is reported to have had a lucrative reseller program that played a significant role in the enterprise. Resellers could allegedly purchase Nitro TV credits and sell access to new consumers, thereby expanding the overall “subscriber base and their ill-gotten profits.”
Included in the complaint are incriminating screenshots from Facebook featuring Galido advising Nitro TV subscribers on how to hide infringing activity. The defendants allege that Galindo created Nitro TV’s official Facebook page to market the service. “As the creator and an administrator of the Nitro TV Facebook Group,” writes the complaint, “Galindo used it to market and promote Nitro TV subscriptions…and to expand Defendants’ web of Nitro TV resellers.” As of the date of publication, Nitro TV’s online store is “closed for maintenance,” and its Facebook page has been removed.
As a result of Nitro TV’s alleged copyright infringement, the plaintiffs seek an award for damages and a permanent injunction to prevent the defendants from continuing to reproduce copyrighted content. A motion hearing is scheduled for May 11.
