Devinn Lane Files Suit Against Vivid, Digital Playground, Others

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LOS ANGELES — Former adult star Devinn Lane filed suit last week against numerous blue-chip adult entertainment and digital media companies, alleging the companies used and profited from domain names similar to her performer name.


The suit, filed at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, charges that Vivid Entertainment Group, Digital Playground, Domains by Proxy, Dotster and Moniker Online Services, among others, made use of her performer name in domain names such as DevinnLaneXXX.com, Devinn-Lane.com and DevinnLaneCash.com, among others, without compensation.

Lane, whose real name is Cherilyn McCarver, alleges that in some of the cases, the companies conspired with each other to divert traffic to adult websites that they own.

Lane said that Arizona-based Domains by Proxy registered DevinnLaneXXX.com more than three years ago without Lane’s consent. Two years later, Lane said she discovered that the site redirected to www.kim1.vivid.com, a website owned by Vivid.

In January, the suit claims, the site stopped redirecting to that site and became a parked page that is owned by Delaware-based Dotster. A month later, the parked page started redirecting to DigitalPlayground.com, which lasted only one month, after which it became a parked page, which it continues today.

The complaint also targets the owner of DevinnLaneCash.com, which allegedly is owned by Privacy Protect, and Devinn-Lane.org and DevinnLane.org, which allegedly are owned by Florida-based Moniker. It also targets Pixel, a Hawaii company, which allegedly owns Devinn-Lane.com.

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe that defendants are using [Lane’s trademark] deliberately and intentionally in order to drive consumers to the infringing sites and other websites and to capture and trade on the goodwill and notoriety of the [trademark],” the suit said.
Michael Fattorosi, who represents Lane, would not disclose to XBIZ additional details of the suit; however, the filing said that Lane filed and was awarded a trademark to her name in 2002.

Lane has performed in more than 70 films since her debut in 1999. She also has directed about 17 videos, including five volumes of adult-themed “The Devinn Lane Show,” and has produced two adult films.

In addition, Lane was a Wicked contract star and has hosted shows on Playboy TV and has been featured in softcore adult films for Cinemax, as well as a mainstream movie, “The Girl Next Door.”

XBIZ was unable to receive comment on the complaint from Vivid officials at post time; Digital Playground officials were out of the country and unavailable for comment.
With the trademark infringement and cybersquatting charges, Lane is asking for injunctions over the use of the domain names and actual damages that include potential treble damages, as well as attorneys fees.

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