A U.S. court has ruled that a copyright infringement lawsuit against tube site Eporner can proceed, despite the company being based in Poland.
The decision marks a shift from an earlier copyright case against Eporner, which was dismissed in 2017 after the court found it didn’t have jurisdiction. However, Judge Brnovich said a 2025 appeals court ruling has since changed how courts assess these cases, making it easier for overseas online businesses to face legal action in the U.S.
Fornix Holdings and CP Productions, which operate GloryHoleSwallow.com, filed the lawsuit against Eporner operator MW Media last year. MW asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that it shouldn’t be heard in the U.S. because the company is based outside the country.
In her ruling, Brnovich said Eporner knowingly serves a large U.S. audience and generates advertising revenue from American users, meaning its connection to the country is strong enough for the lawsuit to proceed.
Industry attorney Corey Silverstein described the ruling as “an important and potentially consequential ruling for foreign piracy sites that cultivate and monetise substantial U.S. audiences.”
“It does not mean that every foreign website accessible in the United States is now subject to U.S. jurisdiction,” Silverstein said. “But it materially reduces the ability of a commercial website to claim that its U.S. traffic is merely incidental when the site knows about that traffic, profits from it and depends upon it for advertising revenue.”
For content producers, distributors and rights holders, the case will be one to watch as it could influence future copyright enforcement strategies against overseas platforms that rely on U.S. audiences and advertising revenue.
