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FilmOn Claims Content Rater Defamed It

LOS ANGELES (CN) - FilmOn.com, a video content streamer, claims in court that online ad tracker DoubleVerify cost it "millions of dollars" by defaming it as a copyright violator and "adult content" distributor.

FilmOn sued DoubleVerify on Oct. 27 in Superior Court, alleging trade libel, tortious interference and unfair business practices.

FilmOn claims it has spent millions of dollars developing the site and millions more promoting it. It claims that DoubleVerify knowingly publishes false information about its streaming service, and continues to do so despite efforts to correct the falsehoods.

"DoubleVerify's actions have caused FilmOn millions of dollars in damages by improperly disrupting FilmOn's efforts to market content it owns," the complaint states.

DoubleVerify is a business information and technology company that helps companies track and target online advertising through "impression quality reports," according to the complaint.

FilmOn claims that "DoubleVerify attempts to identify what it calls 'offensive and objectionable' content. A misclassification of a website's content can result in a particular website being 'blacklisted' by scores of potential advertisers, resulting in a tremendous loss of ad revenue."

It claims that a recent DoubleVerify impression quality report "incorrectly described and classified FilmOn.com and its related websites in the 'Copyright Infringement-File Sharing' and 'Adult Content' categories."

This caused some of its advertisers to pull their ads, and others to threaten to do so, FilmOn says in the complaint.

"These category designations are false and disparaging descriptions ... that have harmed FilmOn's business relationship with their current and prospective advertisers and other third parties," according to the lawsuit.

FilmOn says it does not stream adult content or content that infringes on copyrights, and that it has tried to clear up the matter with DoubleVerify, but the company refused to correct the false information.

"Over the past year, in spite of numerous requests, DoubleVerify has failed to update its information to reflect the true nature of FilmOn's business, which has nothing to do with copyright infringement or adult content," FilmOn claims.

It adds: "Since October 2013, FilmOn's representatives and its counsel have continued to offer proof to DoubleVerify of its misclassification of the FilmOn websites and DoubleVerify has continually refused to change its classification."

FilmOn seeks an injunction, costs and compensatory and punitive damages.

It is represented by Ryan Baker with Baker Marquart.

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