Last year, American satellite and broadcast provider Dish Network targeted TVAddons, the largest repository of third-party Kodi add-ons.
In a complaint filed in a federal court in Texas, TVAddons and its Canadian founder Adam Lackman were accused of copyright infringement, facing millions of dollars in potential damages.
The site was briefly taken down but returned after a few weeks, albeit without some of the more troubling add-ons. TVAddons and Lackman were planning to put up a fight and maintained that the site had always adhered to the DMCA.
Over the past several months both Dish and TVAddons were getting ready to take the matter to trial, but this weekend it became apparent that this is no longer needed.
The parties have signed a confidential settlement agreement and, as a result, Dish decided to drop the case. While the exact terms of the agreement remain private, a TVAddons representative informs TorrentFreak that they’re happy with the outcome.
“Sometimes a settlement can be considered a win for both sides. From an economic perspective, it was the ideal conclusion since the Canadian lawsuit has already destroyed our financial resources.
“It also respected our morals and promise to protect our users and developers at all cost, since no data nor user/developer information was exchanged as part of the settlement,” the TVAddons spokesperson adds.
The upside for TVAddons is quite obvious, as the site and its founder had a lot to lose financially. Dish’s motivations are less obvious. It’s not clear whether TVAddons agreed to pay damages, but that could be a factor.
TVAddons also agreed to process Dish’s future copyright claims more swiftly, if any issues arise.
“As far as our site goes, we maintain that we have always complied with copyright law. We have however agreed to an expedited DMCA process for any complaints DISH Network may have in the future,” TVAddons tells us.
The settlement agreement was signed by TVAddons founder Adam Lackman and Dish. This is interesting, as Lackman announced just a few weeks ago that he had “resigned” from all administrative roles at the site to ensure its future.
This suggests that someone else is in charge. However, a representative of the site informs TorrentFreak that there are agreements in place to ensure that the expedited DMCA agreement between Dish and Lackman will be honored.
The settlement does not include Shani, the developer of ZemTV, who was sued in the same case. The UK resident previously chose not to defend himself in court, as he lacked the funds to put up a proper defense.
TVAddons and Lackman are not out of trouble either. The Canadian lawsuit filed by an army of Canadian telecoms giants, including Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, is still on.
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