Amazon facing ‘Spellbound’ Prime copyright suit
A film copyright holding company is suing Amazon for allegedly streaming a 2002 spelling bee documentary on Prime Video without permission.
Zelus Film filed the complaint at the US District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday, July 14.
Zelus said it acquired the distribution rights for “Spellbound” in 2015, as collateral for loan repayments owed by ThinkFilm.
According to the complaint, the documentary was made available for streaming, purchase, and rent on Amazon’s Prime Video service between July 2017 and February 2019.
Zelus estimated the film had been accessed by Prime Video subscribers “hundreds of times or more” during this period.
“Because information regarding defendants' full distribution and exploitation of the motion picture remains incomplete or in defendants' sole possession, the full and complete scope of defendants' infringing activities and infringing uses of the motion picture has not yet been fully ascertained,” the complaint said.
Amazon removed the film from Prime Video in February 2019, after receiving a notice of copyright infringement from Zelus, the complaint acknowledged.
But Amazon did not respond to two letters “requesting information relating to the unauthorised exploitation prior to bringing this action,” it alleged.
Zelus is seeking statutory damages of $150,000 for the alleged infringement.
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