The movie studios allege that Hotfile's payments for popular uploads encouraged piracy

Hollywood is calling on the US courts to force Hotfile, the popular file-sharing site, offline following similar action against Megaupload.

Court papers unsealed this week reveal that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed a motion for a summary judgement.

If approved, the move could lead to action against the service without the need for a lengthy trial.

Hotfile says it removes copyright-infringing files on request.

Details of the development were revealed by Mediapost News and the Torrentfreak blog.

It marks the latest step in the film studios' year-long legal effort to have Hotfile shut down.

Megaupload connection

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17300225

The court papers name Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros as the plaintiffs.

They claim that "Hotfile actively fosters the massive copyright infringement that fuels its business", adding that "more than 90% of the files downloaded from Hotfile are copyright infringing, and nearly every Hotfile user is engaged in copyright infringement".