Vivid sues to stop Jimi Hendrix sex tape dowloads

By Eriq Gardner

Jimi Hendrix in a sex tape?

Yes, the legendary rocker apparently made one 40 years ago -- and now adult entertainment giant Vivid is all hot and bothered because many websites have been showing it without permission.

Vivid is suing the Internet Commerce Group for copyright infringement for allegedly letting customers download some of the infamous videos it has acquired over the years. Vivid wants maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement (or at least $1.2 million).

Jimi Hendrix' threesome is one of the works in dispute. So is the sex tape that Kim Kardashian made with actor-rapper Ray J before she became a reality TV star. Vivid also claims that a sex tape involving Motley Crue singer Vince Neil has been ripped off. And there are others.

Here's the complaint, in which Vivid says that three websites owned by ICG have been showing its copyrighted material. 

In a released statement, Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch promises more litigation to come.  

"This is the first of many lawsuits we are prepared to file and we expect to prevail in all of them," he says. "We spend millions of dollars to promote our content and we're not going to let illegal users profit at our expense."

Let's raise a toast to the irony of Vivid lobbing litigation grenades over celebrity sex tapes when the company has itself been targeted over celebrity sex tapes. For example, when the Kim Kardashian tape emerged, she sued to stop it before dropping her action. Other celebs pinned by Vivid include Mindy McCready and Karissa Shannon.