Contract analysis

I. NOTICE OF MOTION TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiffs Aurelius Global Media Group PLC ("Aurelius") and Aurelius Media Americas, Inc. ("AMA") (collectively, "Plaintiffs") hereby move this Court, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 65(a) and (b) and 17 U.S.C. § 502, for entry of a temporary restraining order and, following a hearing on a date to be set by this Cou

II. INTRODUCTION This case involves the brazen, large-scale, unauthorized exploitation of one of the world's most valuable film and television libraries — carried out over nearly two years, across fourteen countries, and generating tens of millions of dollars in illicit revenue — all premised on a fraudulent license from a company that never had any authority to grant one. Plaintiff Aurelius Global Media Group PLC is

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS A. The Parties

1. Aurelius Global Media Group PLC and Aurelius Media Americas, Inc. Plaintiff Aurelius Global Media Group PLC ("Aurelius") is a public limited company organized under the laws of England and Wales, registered with Companies House under Registration Number 08724561, and headquartered at 45 Clarewood Place, London W1K 6TH, United Kingdom. Aurelius is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker sy

2. StreamNow Holdings, Inc. Defendant StreamNow Holdings, Inc. ("StreamNow") is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, bearing Delaware Division of Corporations File Number 7291843, and is headquartered at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, California 90010. StreamNow's registered agent is Capitol Registered Agents, Inc., located at 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 198

3. Meridian Digital Distributors, LLC and Franklin Ogilvie. Defendant Meridian Digital Distributors, LLC ("MDD") is a California limited liability company, registered with the California Secretary of State under File Number 202115729430, with its principal office located at 8912 Burton Way, Suite 200, Beverly Hills, California 90211. Defendant Franklin Ogilvie is the sole member and manager of MDD. Mr. Ogilvie is an

IV. LEGAL STANDARD Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 and well-established Ninth Circuit precedent, a plaintiff seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction must demonstrate: (1) a likelihood of success on the merits; (2) a likelihood that the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief; (3) that the balance of equities tips in the plaintiff's favor; and (4) th

Section 502(a) of the Copyright Act provides that "[a]ny court having jurisdiction of a civil action arising under this title may . . . grant temporary and final injunctions on such terms as it may deem reasonable to prevent or restrain infringement of a copyright." 17 U.S.C. § 502(a). This statutory authorization reflects Congress's determination that injunctive relief is an essential tool for the protection of copy

V. ARGUMENT A. Aurelius Is Likely to Succeed on the Merits To establish copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501, a plaintiff must prove two elements: "(1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work that are original." Feist Publ'ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 361 (1991). As demonstrated below, Aurelius satisfies both elements with overwhelming force. More

1. Aurelius Owns Valid Copyrights in the Works at Issue. Aurelius and AMA hold valid U.S. copyright registrations for all 217 audiovisual works at issue. Of these, 189 titles were timely registered with the U.S. Copyright Office — meaning they were registered either within three months of first publication or before infringement commenced — and are therefore eligible for statutory damages and attorneys' fees pursuant

2. StreamNow Has Copied, Distributed, and Publicly Performed the Works Without Authorization. StreamNow's conduct violates Aurelius's exclusive rights under the Copyright Act in at least three independently sufficient ways: • Reproduction (17 U.S.C. § 106(1)): StreamNow reproduced each of the 217 works by copying them onto its servers, content delivery networks, and digital infrastructure. Each such reproduction cons

3. StreamNow Has No Valid License. StreamNow's sole claimed basis for its distribution of the 217 Aurelius works is the Content Distribution Agreement dated March 15, 2024, between StreamNow and MDD. This purported license provides StreamNow with no defense for two independent and dispositive reasons. First, MDD had no rights to convey. It is a fundamental and well-established principle of copyright law that a sublic

4. StreamNow Does Not Qualify for DMCA § 512 Safe Harbor. To the extent StreamNow might attempt to invoke the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512, any such defense would fail.

Section 512 provides a limited safe harbor from monetary liability for certain online service providers that passively host user-generated content and comply with specified notice-and-takedown procedures. The safe harbor was designed for platforms that serve as conduits for or hosts of content uploaded by third-party users, not for commercial enterprises that actively acquire, curate, license, monetize, and sublicens

5. The Infringement Is Willful. The facts of this case support a finding that StreamNow's infringement of Aurelius's copyrights was willful, entitling Aurelius to enhanced statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2). Multiple independent facts support this conclusion. First, StreamNow failed to conduct any reasonable due diligence on MDD's claimed authority to license the 217 Aurelius tit

6. Contributory and Inducement Claims Against MDD and Ogilvie. In addition to StreamNow's direct infringement, MDD and Franklin Ogilvie are liable for contributory infringement and inducement of infringement. Contributory copyright infringement occurs where a party, "with knowledge of the infringing activity, induces, causes, or materially contributes to the infringing conduct of another." Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

VI. PLAINTIFFS ARE PREPARED TO POST AN APPROPRIATE BOND Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), Plaintiffs are prepared to post a bond or other security in an amount the Court deems appropriate to compensate Defendants for any costs and damages they may sustain if the Court later determines that the injunction was wrongfully issued. Given the overwhelming strength of Aurelius's ownership claims — substanti

VII. CONCLUSION AND PRAYER FOR RELIEF For all of the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs Aurelius Global Media Group PLC and Aurelius Media Americas, Inc. have demonstrated: (1) a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their claims for copyright infringement, contributory infringement, and inducement of infringement; (2) a likelihood of irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, given the ongoing and com

1. A temporary restraining order, effective immediately upon entry, requiring StreamNow Holdings, Inc. to cease all reproduction, distribution, and public performance of the 217 audiovisual works owned by Aurelius and identified in Exhibit A to the Complaint filed concurrently herewith;

2. A temporary restraining order requiring StreamNow Holdings, Inc. to remove all Aurelius content from the StreamNow platform and to direct all sublicensees — including Brindoval Channel Networks, Inc., BrightLoop Media, LLC, Velvet Stream Partners, LP, and Pacific Lantern Digital Pty Ltd — to remove all Aurelius content from their respective platforms within forty-eight (48) hours of service of the order;

3. A temporary restraining order requiring Meridian Digital Distributors, LLC and Franklin Ogilvie to immediately cease all purported licensing, sublicensing, or distribution of any audiovisual work owned by Aurelius Global Media Group PLC or Aurelius Media Americas, Inc.;

4. A preliminary injunction, following a hearing to be set by this Court, continuing the foregoing relief through the pendency of this action; and

5. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

VIII. DECLARATIONS IN SUPPORT The following declarations are filed concurrently herewith in support of this Motion and are incorporated herein by reference: Declaration of Lena Kowalski Ms. Kowalski serves as Head of Digital Rights Enforcement for Aurelius Global Media Group PLC. In her declaration, filed concurrently as a separate document, Ms. Kowalski attests to, among other things: her discovery of the infringeme