Rumble operates an open video platform that sources, validates, provides clearance management, distribution and monetization for video content. It is a content-creator-centric platform, whose main goal and core business model has always been to help video creators increase distribution and monetize their videos. Rumble allows video creators to host, share, monetize and distribute their video content from one centralized account.
Rumble has proprietary software to identify and validate the actual content-creator for the videos in its portfolio. This allows Rumble to verify, to a high degree of confidence, that the content-creators are in fact the copyright holder as to the videos uploaded onto its platform. Content-creators upload their videos to Rumble.com, and Rumble makes these videos available to websites for monetization.
On September 1, 2014, Rumble and Associated Newspapers Ltd. (“ANL”) (DMGMedia) entered in a “Video Content, License Agreement” whereby Associated Newspapers was to pay Rumble certain sums for the use of Rumble’s videos. Pursuant to the License Agreement, ANL did in fact for a period of time use videos from Rumble’s portfolio, and paid Rumble for that use.
On April 9, 2015, a Ms. Angelica Asplund, on behalf of ANL, sent a letter to Rumble, advising that ANL was serving Notice of Termination of the License Agreement, effective as of May 9, 2015. In that letter, Ms. Asplund also said: “We reserve the right to contact you in regards to licensing content on an ad hoc basis after the end of this Agreement.”
Thereafter, when Rumble discovered that Defendants were continuing to publish videos from Rumble’s portfolio without license, the founder and president of Rumble sent “cease and desist” type emails to ANL’s representatives confirming to ANL that it was no longer licensed, and in the future, would not be licensed, to use any of Rumble’s videos.
Rumble believes that there are well in excess of 50 copyrighted videos willfully infringed by Defendants. Rumble also believes that some of the Infringed Videos were published by Defendants more than once without authorization on different platforms, and thus each additional publication may also be a separate act of willful infringement. Infringed Videos are among the most popular in Rumble’s portfolio, Rumble believes that the advertising and licensing revenue and profits obtained by Defendants through their infringing conduct could average $50,000 per video, or more.
The total damages and fees that will eventually be sought at trial are unknown with precision, at this point Rumble believes that amount could approach or even exceed $10,000,000. Rumble will also seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against Defendants as to any future infringements.
Among other things, the Rumble prays for compensatory damages according to proof, including actual and/or statutory damages, and collateral damage for copyright infringement, including all of the revenue and profits obtained by Defendants as a result of that infringement.