YNOT EUROPE – If the adage “strength in numbers” bears any truth, the adult entertainment industry’s battle against content piracy may have picked up some muscle during the first-ever Content Protection Retreat that closed Tuesday.

Although most of the details are classified, as attendees were sworn to secrecy as a condition of attendance, European and American adult content producers united for three days in Tucson, Ariz., and left with the foundation of what they believe will be an honest-to-goodness movement to stamp out piracy.

That’s uncommon in an industry that typically takes an “every-man-for-himself” approach to business.

“While there is nothing new about adult companies gathering to discuss content piracy and what can be done about it, what happened at the CPR went beyond mere discussion,” said Allison Vivas, president of retreat organizer Pink Visual. “Attendees didn’t talk about what could be done; they talked about what they will do, and made commitments to follow through on those things.”

The adult entertainment industry has taken an even bigger hit from piracy than its mainstream counterpart in Hollywood, due in no small measure to a widespread failure to take cohesive action. The impact of piracy on the adult entertainment sector has contributed to the demise of dozens of companies that at one time seemed destined for longevity. The ones that remain standing find themselves battling a consumer mindset they created themselves, both by not attacking the piracy problem sooner and by flooding the internet with free hardcore content in an effort to entice ever-more-jaded customers. Consequently, a significant percentage of consumers feel they have a right to be entertained for free, and if the owners of intellectual property won’t give them what they want, they’ll just take it.

The companies that took part in the CPR represented all segments of the industry, from enormous studios to sole proprietors. Creators of sophisticated digital fingerprinting software, intellectual property law experts and firms that specialize in locating pirated content online also participated.

One group of participants agreed to join forces and target adult tube sites and torrent tracker sites in an effort to either sue the miscreants out of existence or force them to adopt content-filtering technology. Another group agreed to litigate for the express purpose of establishing clear legal precedent that will strengthen the adult industry’s position in future litigation.

CPR attendees also agreed upon a set of “best practices” for content distribution, business-to-business licensing and methods of displaying content to their customers. They hope to convince others in the industry to adopt the standards, as well.

A more controversial topic discussed during the CPR was end-user litigation, an area of jurisprudence in which there has been quite a bit of action in recent weeks. Although many attendees indicated they are willing to enforce their copyrights by filing lawsuits against users who distribute content via torrents and other peer-to-peer systems, others indicated suing individuals has no place in their anti-piracy tactics.

All the attendees committed to following through on a specific — though as yet not revealed outside the meeting — action plan designed to make what organizers called “a drastic reduction” in the piracy of adult content by 2012.

Attendees included AEBN, Corbin Fisher, DogFart, Gamma Entertainment, Gourmet Unlimited, Grooby Productions, Hush Hush Entertainment, Hustler, JustUsBoys, Lightspeed Media, LordsOfPorn, NaughtyAllie.com, Pink Visual, Private Media Group, Raging Stallion, Randy Blue, Sean Cody, Sex Entertain, Silver Sinema, Shane’s World, The SCORE Group, Third World Media, Titan Media and VanillaDeville.com.

For more information about the CPR, visit ContentProtectionRetreat.com.