Porn site ordered to remove movies uploaded without permission

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The porn website xhamster.com is Amsterdam judge Hosting of amateur films for Dutch audiences should be stopped if participants do not agree to be posted online.

The lawsuit was brought by the Dutch anti-child abuse campaign group Expertisebureau Online Kindermisbruik (EOKM), which previously had similar legal successes against the porn site vagina.nl.

EOKM says it is aware that pornographic websites may contain amateur footage. Director Alda Gerkens said, “Sometimes people ask me to help with the removal, but it’s not easy.

Hammy Media, owner of Cyprus-based xhamster.com, says it checks all material before publishing and the website does not contain any illegal images. It also disputed claims that it targeted the Netherlands.

The court said Hammy Media has a Dutch subdomain (nl.xhamster.com) and contains Dutch films, some of which have been machine-translated into Dutch. Hammy Media “is therefore partly Dutch-focused and many have noticed that they may be held liable under Dutch law,” the court ruling said.

The court ordered Hammy Media to remove the video within three days, which was also flagged by EOKM as problematic. Failure to do so will result in a fine of at least €10,000 per video and up to €30,000 per film.