OFF BEAT: Elderly couple accused in porn copyright lawsuit

A California adult film company is seeking millions of dollars from Texas residents who allegedly downloaded one of its films for free on the Internet—including an elderly couple.

K-Beech Inc. of Chatsworth, Calif., alleges that 41 people—most identified as “John Doe”—committed copyright infringement by illegally downloading "Virgins 4" from BitTorrent Inc., an Internet network that allows users to share large files online.

K-Beech identified defendants based on Internet Protocol addresses provided by Internet service providers, according to an amended complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Houston.

A retired couple in Deer Park, Texas, is among those accused, according to a report by KHOU-TV in Houston. The husband, identified only as “Bill,” told the station that he had no idea how his IP address became connected with the lawsuit.

“Did you say porn?” his wife said during the interview. “Did you say porn?”

K-Beech says the alleged movie downloads resulted in "lost sales, price erosion and a diminution of the value of its copyright.” It is seeking damages of at least $300,000 from each defendant.