Porn stars set to face off in Chicago court over defamation suit stemming from release of scene
A California woman who works in the adult film industry under the stage name “Bonnie Rotten” is suing a fellow porn star, claiming video stills and a scene they shot together was made available to the public without her consent.
Alaina Hicks filed a lawsuit May 7 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Paul F. Little, Film West Production and Maxhardcoretv.com, alleging appropriation of her identity, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit claims the defendants posted a scene and still photos from an adult movie filmed in 2012 between Hicks and Little, who performs under the stage name “Max Hardcore,” without her permission.
Little, according to the suit, is a California resident who runs an internet video service and for-pay website that distributes videos produced by him and Film West Production on its website Maxhardcoretv.com. The suit claims he sentenced to prison on obscenity charges in 2008 in Florida and is frequently depicted in his films degrading women.
Hicks alleges that in July 2013, Little used his “MaxHardCore100? Twitter account to post links to a website where people could purchase the scene between the two of them and still photos from the movie. She also accuses him of making defamatory comments about her on Twitter and under each still picture on his website.
In addition to being available to paying members of certain adult movie websites and to those who purchased a DVD, Hicks claims non-paying viewers, including those in Illinois, were able to see the still photos and scene of her and Little.
She claims the scene was filmed even though she didn’t sign a model release agreement and never gave the defendants permission “to distribute, market or post on the internet for public viewing any depiction of her name, likeliness, photograph, image or voice.”
The suit alleges that anyone who conducted an internet search of her and Little’s stages names had access to the scene between July 13 and July 15, 2012. It also notes that as of May 6, still photos and animated GIFs of the scene are still on the internet.
Hicks asserts the photos, scene and Little’s comments have damaged her character, reputation and career, which the suit notes includes being dubbed the 2014 Adult Video News female performer of the year.
In her intentional infliction of emotional distress count, Hicks states she was under the age of 21 and had not yet performed in film at the time she shot the scene with Little. She claims the defendants should have known the release of the scene would cause her “to become distressed.”
Each of Hicks’ three counts seeks $50,000 in damages. She also asked for punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs and any profits the defendants made from their use of her identity, as well as injunction preventing them from marketing, using or seeking commercial use of her identity under the Right of Publicity Act.
Electronic court records show a judge allowed an injunction on May 23 and then denied an injunction on May 29. It also appears the court set a June 12 deadline to amend the complaint and a July 15 hearing in the matter.
Hicks is being represented by Chicago attorney Karl E. Hunsicker of Law Offices of Karl E. Hunsicker. Records do not list an attorney for the defendants.
31 Responses
Bonnie Rotten Max hardcore Case Explained http://t.co/WVTVOblMAC
Why Illinois instead of California? Did she accept payment ?
Normally, you file in the jurisdiction where the offense took place, especially if you both live in California, which is where one presumes the scene was filmed. If one individual lives in one state and the other lives in another state, you file in Federal Court where the plaintiff (Ms. Rotten) lives, although the plaintiff could go after the defendant (Max Hardcore) in his state.
When it involves something that was published in the national media – and the Internet would fall under that category because anyone can access – you can file almost anywhere. It’s the reason the feds files obscenity cases against California pornographers in places like Pennsylvania (Rob Black) – they think they can get a better hearing.
Why they would choose Cook County Circuit Court rather than an Illinois State Court or the US federal court in Illinois makes no sense to me, but I’m not a lawyer. If someone finds the original filing, it should indicate why Cook County has jurisdiction. But, its weird.
I can tell you this – intentional infliction of emotional distress is one of the absolute hardest actions to prove. And, economic damage will be hard to prove, given that she appears to be working non-stop. And, last, she’s a public figure. I would think her best shot is the misappropriation of her likeness and image if it is true that she did the scene but there was no model release.
Ummmm… Ok.
IL appears to be venue shopping by the attorney because the scene was placed for sale on the internet you may file in any state thats why they got Max in FL, Rob in PA etc
the venue thing confuses me too..when i saw three demands for 50k without any action on his part it didnt make sense that he didn’t file motion to remove case to a federal court in California for the amount..don’t quote me but think 75k is some magic number.
since his lawyer went to law school and passed the Bar there must be a sound legal rationale for filing in Superior Court.
hes quoted as saying contract and content happened in California vs her saying no contract without mentioning location so im not even gonna try to make head or tails of that with limited info from articles.
werent those DOJ criminal? Civil is like a whole different breed of animal isnt it?
If he pulls out a model release and its got her signature on it then she won’t have a leg to stand on.
but did she endorse and cash her check ?
In spite if the intensity of her performances. I never pictured doing a scene with Hardcore. Oh well live and learn.
She is just wasting her time and the courts. Max has got her by the, whats left of the pubic hairs. Get her Paulie
Matuszewski Lucian liked this on Facebook.
Max Hardcore: Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
She has way too many tats.
don’t miss South’s book STRIPPER QUOTES – good stuff! Available on Amazon as an e-book…
I’m confused over what she has to gain here. If she signed a model release there is no case. If she didn’t sign a model release, and was paid for the scene doesn’t that open her up to criminal prosecution for prostitution?
Max Hardcore may be a cunt but he’s proven to be a meticulous record keeper. We know from his trial and other sources that he does interviews before and after his scenes. There is likely the cancelled cheque as someone mentioned plus his standard model release. Misogynist? Yes. Bad record keeper? No. Time will tell.
Bob Sttork liked this on Facebook.
Civil cases go to Federal Court too. Mike is right that in the federal criminal cases the feds venue shopped. In the case of something involving media that was distributed nationally – or internationally – the feds can file a criminal case anywhere the subject matter was distributed. In the case of the Internet, that’s anywhere in the world. That’s the reason some child porn cases have been prosecuted both here in the US and in foreign countries. And, it’s the reason the feds tried Rob Black in Pennsylvania. They thought correctly that they had a better shot at a conviction there than in California.
The same holds true for civil cases. If the plaintiff filing suit lives in one jurisdiction and the defendant lives in another, there is a diversity of jurisdiction. The plaintiff can file suit in federal court in the area where they live, regardless of where the defendant lives. In the case of suing a business, a plaintiff can sue a defendant anywhere that business does business. It’s the reason that a lot of class action suits are filed in Alabama, which is widely considered friendly to plaintiffs – like the doc who won a couple of million from BMW because they screwed up the paint job on his car.
In the case of the media, you can sue in any federal jurisdiction where the subject matter at hand was published. It’s the reason that American celebrities often file libel suits in the UK, where the libel laws are much friendlier to public figures than in the US. Or, I’m a magazine writer. I’ve been sued for libel on a handful of occasions (I won everyone of them). In two instances, the article was published by New York based publishers (two different magazines and publishers) and in one instance, it involved a television movie produced by a major network in Los Angeles, a production company in Los Angeles and was filmed in North Carolina. Meanwhile, I live in New England.
The first lawsuit was filed in Washington, D.C. It was thrown out there. The article was republished by a different magazine, and the plaintiff refiled in Virginia – where the plaintiff lived. It was thrown out there too.
The second was filed in Pennsylvania, even though the plaintiff was living in Massachusetts at the time the article was published. Went to trial and we won.
The suit against the TV movie was filed in Washington, D.C., even though the plaintiff did not live there. It was thrown out.
So ……. if Bonnie Rotten wanted to file in federal court, she could file in any district in the US where she can get a lawyer to file it if it meets the dollar threshold. I don’t understand why its in a circuit court in Chicago, which really is designed for local matters.
The confusing part is how she proves economic damages. She’s suing for damages. She’s a public figure. She has to be able to quantify a loss of income and tie that loss directly to the Max Hardcore Scene – in other words, if she’s suing for $150,000 – $50,000 for each of 3 counts – she has to prove that she made $X during a given period of time, but she would have earned $X plus $150,000 but for Max Hardcore.
I don’t know if you can ask for punitive damages in a county circuit court. That’s an instance where the jury finds in your favor on the economic damages – they say, yes, Bonnie Rotten lost $150,000 because of Max Hardcore; they are then asked to assess additional punitive damages to dissuade anyone else from ever doing this again. In federal court, that’s triple damages – so if Max lost and was assed punitive damages, it could cost him $600,000.
But again, no idea how it works in Cook County, Illinois.
Good Morning you all;
First off I love Bonnie Rotten. She has given me the best
Strap on fucking up my ass that any man who loves strap on’s
and other men’s cocks up their asses. So I wish her the best.
I also really love Max Hardcore and would love to have his rough and
big hard cock up my ass and take a really good load in my mouth from him. If anybody can let Paul know get back to me on my Twitter and or
any of my hundreds of fake twitter accounts that I use to stalk and harass you all with. @PornWarn, @Dr.CindiSpiegler@ or simply get at
me @MrWhiteacre . Gawd! The dream of having Max Hardcore fuck me up my butt and give it to me rough.
Have a good weekend from Henderson, Nev. Its so hot out here.
is the fake ari bass coco loco?
Nah, Karmafan.
Ari Bass is Michael Whiteacre and he is
just being funny and gay right now. He’s my
boyfriend and I love the taste of his sweet gay cum
in my mouth. We all over at TRPWL are homos.
Y’all have a good weekend, Ya hear.
” if Bonnie Rotten wanted to file in federal court, she could file in any district in the US where she can get a lawyer to file it if it meets the dollar threshold. I don’t understand why its in a circuit court in Chicago, which really is designed for local matters.”
Also intrigued by the choice of Cook County despite inclusion of claim that non-paying viewers included those from Illinois.
Don’t know if these thoughts are relevant or not…
Cook County is a circuit court but it’s also one of (if not the) largest court in the world organized under a Chief Judge.
Cook County is a liberal court, First District (state) is limited to Cook County (also liberal) Springfield where IL Supreme Court is votes conservative but the court leans left yet the 6th Federal District is conservative.
Lost track of what happened with NC redistricting but circuit and district issues are trumped with 4 of 7 NC supreme courts up in the air and lots of pressure to push the state judiciary more red as well as the 4th Federal.
Makes sense to stay out of Ninth and 11th which could both be seen as Max’s home turf…even the First (NH) or Third (PA) so what makes Cook County more attractive than somewhere in NY, CT or Vermont and the Second Federal with its history of being more First Amendment friendly than Sixth?
Not trying to play political tic tac toe…jurors tend to be registered voters and it seems like a factor to consider as well as courts historical decision records. Even if the First Amendment is never raised as a legal issue…in a case like this It makes sense to rule out content prejudices every way possible. So I’m still intrigued.
Lol for all I know Pornhub viewing stats make voters and judges more appealing in Cook County.
Also Intrigued as to why this article says she is repped by Karl Hunsicker but Cook County case has Abraham Brustein listed as counsel.
Of course I should expect that when it comes to porn chasing down a solid fact is like attempting to keep Frosty the Snowman a snowman for a trip to the tropics.
Thanks to Fake Ari and Fake Sean for today’s entertainment. They will be doing stand-up comedy at the Mike South Comedy Club in downtown Atlanta, GA all week. Two drink minimum. 🙂
Seriously, I don’t think Fake Ari and Fake Sean are actually Monica Foster’s work (that is the usual person referred to as “Coco Loco” in porn). The tone is way different than she usually takes.
What about your wifey Christina, Fake Ari? Doesn’t she give better strap-on lovin than Bonnie (remember, if you say no she may just give you a pair of Irish Sunglasses otherwise known as two black eyes). 🙂
Pure speculation, but …… looks like Hunsicker is a personal injury, slip & fall, worker comp attorney (aka – ambulance chaser). He doesn’t have a website, but on one of the Chicago lawyer sites it says he specializes in the above. Brustein appears to be the attorney with business litigation experience (http://www.dimontelaw.com/abraham_e__brustein.htm), but even that looks like he specializes in bankruptcy and re-organization.
It’s a mystery, that’s for sure.
@BT
Exactly …doesn’t look like Hunsicker was listed then removed as attorney either since there’s no docket entry for change of counsel unless Hunsicker is working under Brustein who it seems has been around a while.
So pure speculation on my part. Buyer beware of my ignorance of this situation. Where I live, there’s a personal injury attorney who signs up lots of cases – advertises like crazy; people think he’s great. But, if he can’t settle the case quickly, he outsources it to a real trial lawyer. He, himself, never goes to court. That could be what’s going on here – one attorney signs up the case and tries to negotiate a quick, out of court settlement. When that doesn’t work, brings in a trial attorney to go to court. Even at large, white collar corporate law firms, there are attorneys who bring in cases and get them going, but when the rubber hits the road and its going to court, its turned over to the firms litigators. They’re really two different skills. Similarly, appeals are a skill unto their own. So, this could be nothing more than that. Hunsicker is good at signing cases up and settling out of court; Brustein is your guy if its going to the next step.
@Bt
Sure it works if Hunsicker is bringing cases into Brustein firm with Brustein filing as the attorney of record. Since Hunsicker isn’t listed on the firm site he could be acing as IC…still leaves mystery as to how reporter came to be quoting Hunsicker vs Brustein Firm or firm representing her etc.