Man Pretending to Be a Filmmaker Sued Piracy Sites — And Got Caught
A revenge plot against movie-sharing sites just backfired in spectacular fashion.
A man calling himself filmmaker Matthew Schneider sued six private torrent trackers — invitation-only websites where people share pirated movies — for copyright infringement. The sites targeted included PassThePopcorn, BroadcasTheNet, and HDBits, some of the most popular of their kind. The case was notable because it was the first copyright lawsuit aimed at multiple big private trackers at once. For months, the plaintiff pushed to force the sites to reveal who runs them.
The plan fell apart when the actual Matthew Schneider — the real filmmaker whose movies were named in the complaint — filed a sworn statement saying he had never appeared in this case and had no connection to it. Rather than back down, the plaintiff doubled down, telling the court he was simply a different Matthew Schneider who had coincidentally made three films with the exact same titles: Split: A Film Anthology, Do Us Part, and Orlando Gloom, Always the Same.
Then came the smoking gun. Looking at the email address the plaintiff used in his own court filings, investigators found an account tied to someone who was "not a stranger to private torrents" and was probably banned for selling or trading invitations. The defense's theory: this is a disgruntled former user angry about being kicked off, using the courts as a weapon for revenge.
As pressure mounted, the plaintiff abruptly dropped the case. But that may not end it. At a hearing, an attorney for one of the tracker operators confirmed at least one defendant will seek sanctions — a court penalty for filing a frivolous or deceptive lawsuit. The judge warned him about this earlier. The catch for the trackers: to punish someone, the court needs to know who they actually are, and his identity is still unclear. At an October 2 hearing, he is required to appear on camera for the first time and hand over a copy of one of "his" films.
- Someone sued six invite-only movie piracy sites claiming they stole his films — but the real filmmaker named in the lawsuit said he had never been involved.
- The plaintiff then claimed to be a different person with the same name who made three movies with exactly the same titles, which investigators doubt.
- His email address was linked to a banned user of those same sites, suggesting an angry ex-member using the courts for revenge before suddenly dropping the case.
Why It Matters
It shows how easy it is to file a fake lawsuit — and how courts can push back when someone tries it.