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\n\tLuke Combs<\/a> apologized Wednesday after he accidentally sued one of his fans in federal court and won a $250,000 judgment against her, saying she had been caught up in a lawsuit aimed at \u201cillegal businesses\u201d and that she was \u201cnever supposed to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe apology came a day after news broke that lawyers representing the country star had sued a woman named Nicol Harness<\/strong> for selling Combs-themed mugs on Amazon. Harness, who suffers from congestive heart failure, sold only 18 tumblers for a total of $380 but was ordered to pay a whopping $250,000 in damages for infringing Combs\u2019 intellectual property \u2014 all before she ever realized she had been sued.<\/p>\n \n\tIn an Instagram post on Wednesday, Combs said he had just learned about the situation and that it \u201cmakes me absolutely sick to my stomach.\u201d He said he had already contacted Harness directly and apologized for the incident.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI spent the last two hours trying to make this right and figure out what\u2019s going on, because I was completely and utterly unaware of this,\u201d Combs said in the video. \u201cWe do have a company that goes after folks only, supposedly large corporations operating internationally that make millions and millions of dollars making counterfeit tee shirts, things of that nature, running illegal businesses. Apparently, this woman, Nicol, has somehow gotten wrapped into that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe lawsuit against Harness, filed in June in Illinois federal court, accused more than 200 online entities of selling unauthorized Combs merchandise on the internet. It included screenshots of unauthorized t-shirts sold on Amazon that directly copied real apparel the country star sold on his own site.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis action has been filed \u2026 to combat online counterfeiters who trade upon the reputation and goodwill of the American artist Luke Combs,\u201d his lawyers wrote. \u201cThe aggregated effect of the mass counterfeiting that is taking place has overwhelmed the plaintiff and his ability to police his rights against the hundreds of anonymous defendants which are selling illegal counterfeits at prices.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe case highlights a common legal tactic used by big brands like Nike and Ray-Ban to fight fake products on the internet. Filed against huge lists of URLs, such actions enable brands to shut down pirate sellers en masse, win court orders to freeze their assets, and continue to kill new listings if they pop up. They usually result in large \u201cdefault judgments\u201d against many defendants who never even saw the lawsuit, ordering them to pay large sums in damages.<\/p>\n \n\tThough they\u2019re more often employed by retail brands, artists and bands have increasingly turned to such lawsuits to combat counterfeit merch. Nirvana sued nearly 200 sites for selling fake gear in early 2022; a few months later, the late rapper XXXTentacion\u2019s company filed a similar case; in January, Harry Styles filed one.<\/p>\n \n\tSuch lawsuits are effective at combating a difficult problem, but they\u2019re also increasingly controversial. In a study released last month, professor Eric Goldman<\/strong> of Santa Clara University\u2019s School of Law called the mass-defendant counterfeiting cases \u201cabusive,\u201d saying they allow rightsholders to bypass \u201cbasic procedural safeguards\u201d like making sure each defendant is properly served with notice of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n