Smash Pictures Settles With German Distributor

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Smash Pictures today reports that it's settled out-of-court with a German distributor the studio accused of selling its adult movies without a valid contract. The civil suit, originally filed in 2010 in Germany, centers around the allegation that Paradise Films, a German distributor, improperly resold Smash Pictures content to Orion for use in compilation DVDs, Smash vice president Stuart Wall told AVN.Paradise Films formerly licensed Smash Pictures content for Germany only, and the distributor only had permission to distribute the studio's content under the Smash label and not its own. According to Wall, the improper use of his footage was brought to his attention by an Orion employee who was familiar with the studio's content. "On top of this, Paradise Films was caught doing deals outside of his territory to the Netherlands IPTV system Erocom and Kudeta using the Smash footage," Wall said in a statement. "It didn’t stop there, Smash Pictures also discovered its footage on Telekom/Erotic Lounge, the largest German IPTV system too."Wall said that after nearly three years of back-and-forth court motions, the parties decided to end it and settle out of court. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.