Hollywood vs Dotcom case put on hold - for now

A civil case taken by six Hollywood studios against Kim Dotcom has been put on hold.

The case will be stayed until August 1 due to Dotcom's parallel criminal prosecution, a United States judge has ruled.

Dotcom and others behind the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload are already facing a criminal prosecution in the United States over internet piracy charges.

"US court just granted our motion for stay of all pending civil action by Hollywood against #Megaupload and myself," Dotcom tweeted.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced in April that Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros had filed a civil action in a US court.

They say Megaupload and its key operators - including Dotcom - facilitated, encouraged and profited from massive copyright infringement of movies and television shows before the website was shut down by US authorities in January 2012.

The film studios - along with four music industry giants - also launched a bid to have Dotcom's assets frozen in May.

Dotcom was arrested in New Zealand on behalf of US authorities.

He's contesting extradition to the US to face copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering charges relating to Megaupload.

Ongoing court battles have meant the extradition hearing has been delayed a number of times.

- AAP