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A federal judge has ruled that women featured in videos and images of a California-based pornography website have the rights to that content, according to KNSD.
In a Wednesday (December 15) ruling, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino ordered the defendants to hand over the rights of the GirlsDoPorn.com media to the victims who appeared in the media. Rubis Andre Garcia, a former porn actor, was also ordered to pay $18 million in restitution to the victims.
The U.S. Attorney's Office claims the now-defunct website's owners lied to the women, saying the content would only be distributed to private customers outside the country. Prosecutors also allege that the operators always intended on posting the videos to the Internet, which were reportedly re-shared on free porn websites like PornHub.
Reporters say the owners and operators of GirlsDoPorn.com were charged in an alleged sex trafficking conspiracy. One of the co-owners, Michael James Pratt, remains a fugitive.
They were also accused of threatening to sue the victims if they ever change their minds about filming or completing scenes, as well as preventing them from leaving short-term rental rooms with recording equipment. When the women reportedly found these videos online, the owners allegedly ignored their requests to take them down.
Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman says this was "an extremely important ruling that returns power to the victims by giving them control of the images and videos that caused them so much pain and suffering."