Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1
- Garnett
- 1:18-cv-07380
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
Pearson Education v. Doe 1: Judge Garnett adopted the recommendation, entered default judgment, awarded $27.69 million, and issued a permanent infringement injunction.
The plaintiffs Cengage, McGraw Hill, and Pearson received a $27,690,000 damages award, post-judgment interest, and a permanent injunction against the defendants and persons acting with them. The case was closed.
What happened
In Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1, the court considered a recommendation after several defendants failed to respond to the case. The recommendation proposed entering default judgment, awarding $27,690,000 plus interest, and permanently stopping further infringement of the plaintiffs’ copyrights and trademarks.
No defendant objected to the recommendation or asked for more time. The court reviewed the recommendation and found it well supported by the facts and law, despite the defendants’ waiver of objections and appellate review.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett adopted the recommendation in full. The court awarded the specified damages, ordered post-judgment interest, permanently barred the defendants and related persons from further infringement, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1 · No. 1:18-cv-07380
- Garnett
- June 20, 2024
Background
On November 25, 2020, Judge Paul G. Gardephe entered default against Bradley Young, Bizzare Crafts Pvt. Ltd., Pradeep Kumar Sahni, Diwakar Kumar, Abhishek Kumar Singh, Irshad Ahmed, Sushil Kumar Sharma, Niya Wood, Gilson Jose Goncalves Filho, Anthem LLC, and Tracy W. Jernigan. Bradley Young was later voluntarily dismissed from the action. The case was referred to Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang for an inquiry into damages.
Magistrate Judge Wang recommended entering default judgment for the plaintiffs, awarding $27,690,000 in damages plus post-judgment interest, and permanently barring the defendants, their agents, and persons acting with them from further infringement of the plaintiffs’ copyrights and trademarks.
Objections and Review
The recommendation gave the parties 14 days to object and warned that failing to object on time would waive the right to object. No objections or requests for additional time were filed. The court therefore held that the defendants had waived their right to object and to obtain appellate review. Even so, the court reviewed the recommendation and found it well reasoned and supported by the facts and law.
Ruling
Judge Margaret M. Garnett adopted the recommendation in its entirety and entered the following monetary awards:
- Anthem, LLC and Tracy W. Jernigan were made liable to Cengage and Pearson for $4,150,000. - Bizzare Crafts Pvt. Ltd., Pradeep Kumar Sahni, Diwakar Kumar, Abhishek Kumar Singh, Irshad Ahmed, and Sushil Kumar Sharma were made liable to all plaintiffs for $16,730,000. - Gilson Jose Goncalves Filho was made liable to Cengage, McGraw Hill, and Pearson for $360,000. - Niya Wood was made liable to Cengage, McGraw Hill, and Pearson for $6,450,000.
The total damages award was $27,690,000. The court also awarded post-judgment interest under 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a), calculated from the date the default judgment was entered. Finally, it permanently enjoined the defendants, their agents, and persons acting with them from further infringing the plaintiffs’ copyrights and trademarks, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
Disposition
The Report and Recommendation was adopted in its entirety. Default judgment was entered with the stated damages, interest, and permanent injunction.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.