Romero Law Files $8.7M Arbitration Against Sony Pictures

Alan J. Romero of Romero Law, APC along with co-counsel Stephen Calvacca of NeJame Law and W. Edward McLeod of W. Edward McLeod, P.A. have initiated arbitration proceedings against Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Inc. on behalf of Possibility Pictures II, LLC, the producers of the motion picture To Write Love on Her Arms.

On November 24, 2014, Sony suffered a massive cyberattack and intrusion by an as-yet-identified hacking consortium identifying themselves as the Guardians of Peace, possibly acting at the behest of the North Korean government. During the course of this cyber intrusion, the Guardians of Peace obtained digital master copies of five feature-length films, including To Write Love on Her Arms, and released these digital master copies onto various file-sharing networks with the purpose of causing economic harm to Sony, and by extension, the stakeholders of the pirated films.

As alleged in the Statement of Claim, Sony failed to take reasonable, industry-standard efforts to mitigate or prevent numerous long-term and persistent cyber intrusions into Sony’s internal computer networks; these cyber intrusions being so pervasive that the hackers were able to produce their own Sony-validated digital certificates which provided the intruders with unfettered administrator-level access to Sony’s internal computer networks. These stolen Sony digital certificates were then used in malware attacks on third party targets in the wake of the 2014 Sony network hijacking.

Possibility Pictures II, LLC are the producers of the film To Write Love on Her Arms, which they licensed to Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Inc. After the theft of the master digital copy of the film, and its worldwide distribution via piracy-related distribution platforms, it is alleged that Sony reneged on its agreement to distribute the film, as the motion picture had already been illegally downloaded at least 19,949 times during the first six days after its unauthorized release, leading to an exponential spidering effect, as the digital master copy of the film continues to make its way to illegal downloaders all over the world.

Sony, by and through its attorneys, denies any liability related to this action. Instead, Sony asserts that it was under zero obligation to provide any anti-piracy or security measures in relation to its storage and safekeeping of the film.