Porn Purveyors’ Use of Copyright Lawsuits Has Judges Seeing Red

Pornography producers and sellers account for the lion’s share of copyright-infringement lawsuits in the U.S.—and judges may have seen enough.

The courts are cracking down on porn vendors that file thousands of lawsuits against people for downloading and trading racy films on home computers, using tactics a judge called a “high tech shakedown.” In one case, two men were jailed in a scheme that netted $6 million in settlements.

The pornography companies have “a business model that seeks to profit from litigation and threats of litigation rather than profiting from creative works,” said Mitch Stoltz, a senior attorney with the ...