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PornoTube is just one of a number of sites that allow users to upload and watch adult videos, and has found itself facing what has almost become a rite of passage for content sharing sites - a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Its owner, Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN), is being sued for at least $4.5 million in damages by Vivid Video, one of the

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world's largest adult entertainment companies.

Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid, says that AEBN has built its business by selling advertising next to copyright material.

"PornoTube and AEBN have exactly the same responsibility as any other adult content distributor or producer to obey US copyright laws," says Hirsch.

AEBN declined to comment, but in common with other internet businesses, it is likely that US law will oblige it to remove copyright material only when notified by a rights holder.

That defence will be tested when a US court hears a $1 billion claim by French media giant Viacom against the Google-owned YouTube. Viacom makes much the same claim as Vivid, that YouTube profited from the hosting of copyright clips. Google has since begun testing software designed to weed out such material. AEBN may yet be a customer.