Mel Gibson's Icon Distribution Inc. has sued the Hollywood duplication facility where allegedly illegal copies were made of "The Passion of the Christ," potentially fostering widespread piracy on the Internet and among bootleggers.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Lightning Media, seeks damages for lost sales because of piracy. The film earned more than $125 million in its first week of release.

"Damages could be in the millions if it turns out this thing is on the streets as a result of what these people did," said attorney George Hedges, who filed the case Thursday on behalf of Icon. "It's extremely serious to imagine a dubbing facility not having lock-down security on a film."

Last month, three former employees of Lightning Media were indicted for making copies of films including "Passion" and Miramax Films' "Kill Bill-Vol. 1" (HR 2/13). While Richard Young of Northridge, Victor Ochoa of Reseda and Frank Pelayo of Burbank were charged with conspiracy to violate federal copyright laws, the night-shift tape operators have not been named as defendants in the civil suit brought by Icon.

Lightning received a copy of the civil complaint late Friday afternoon. "We're in the process of investigating the facts," Lightning attorney Adam Bass said. "Piracy clearly is a brand-new area for the industry as a whole."

Bass noted that as a result of the alleged actions, Lightning has implemented rigorous anti-piracy standards: Areas where client materials are stored are now only accessible to Lightning employees with swipe cards, 24-hour surveillance cameras have been installed in duplication areas to guarantee the safety of clients' materials, potential hires are now be subject to criminal background checks, and employees will have to sign and adhere to Lightning's new anti-piracy policy.

"We figure that facilities all over town are investing lots of money right now into technology to ensure protection of customers' copyrights and property rights," Bass said.

According to the suit, Icon hired Lightning to make copies of "Passion" in September.

Hedges said his clients first became aware that the illicit copies were being circulated when an article on a film-related Web site boasted about how easy it was to obtain illegal copies of Hollywood films. Other copies also have been traced back to Lightning, he said.

"As a result of such actions by Lightning, unauthorized copies of the motion picture 'The Passion of the Christ' have been made publicly available through a number of different and widespread sources," the suit states.