KGB NY LLC v. Guzman
- Andrew Carter
- 1:23-cv-10979
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 8
In KGB NY LLC v. Squarespace, Judge Carter dismissed furniture-design claims because KGB had not pleaded copyright registration.
KGB NY LLC’s furniture-design claims were dismissed: count three against Squarespace was dismissed on Squarespace’s motion, and count two against Roberto Guzman and David Khouri was dismissed by the court on its own initiative. The opinion does not dismiss KGB’s photograph-infringement claim or the other listed claims.
What happened
In KGB NY LLC v. Roberto Guzman, et al., KGB claimed that several defendants infringed its furniture designs and photographs. KGB had registered the photographs but had not registered the furniture designs before filing the lawsuit. Squarespace provided website-hosting services to some defendants and was sued for helping with the alleged furniture-design infringement.
Squarespace asked the court to dismiss KGB’s claim against it. KGB argued that its designs were protected even without registration, but the court noted that KGB brought a federal copyright claim, not a common-law claim. The court also explained that a claim for helping someone infringe a copyright requires a properly stated underlying infringement claim.
Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. granted Squarespace’s motion to dismiss and dismissed count three. The judge also dismissed count two against Roberto Guzman and David Khouri, even though they had not asked for dismissal, and denied leave to amend the furniture-design claims because registration could not be added after the lawsuit began.
The detailed version
- KGB NY LLC v. Guzman · No. 1:23-cv-10979
- Andrew Carter
- Sept. 18, 2025
Background
KGB NY LLC alleged that it owned furniture designs and professional photographs of its furniture. It registered the photographs with the United States Copyright Office on June 6, 2023, but the amended complaint did not allege that KGB registered the furniture designs.
KGB alleged that Roberto Guzman, David Khouri, and CULTUM Studio published its photographs without permission. It also alleged that Guzman and Khouri marketed furniture based on KGB’s designs. Squarespace, Inc. provided website-hosting services for the website and allegedly refused to remove the furniture designs after KGB notified it of the claimed infringement.
The amended complaint asserted six causes of action. Count one alleged copyright infringement of the photographs against the CULTUM defendants. Count two alleged direct copyright infringement of the furniture designs against Guzman and Khouri. Count three alleged that Squarespace contributed to infringement of the furniture designs. The other counts alleged interference with business relations, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duties.
Squarespace’s Motion
Squarespace moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which allows dismissal when a complaint does not state a legally sufficient claim. KGB’s contributory-infringement claim alleged that Squarespace knew about and materially helped Guzman and Khouri’s infringement. The court explained that contributory copyright infringement requires an underlying direct infringement.
The court held that registration is required before bringing a federal copyright-infringement action. Because the amended complaint did not allege that KGB registered the furniture designs, KGB had not plausibly pleaded the direct infringement needed to support its contributory-infringement claim against Squarespace. The court rejected KGB’s reliance on common-law protection because the amended complaint asserted a claim under the federal Copyright Act, not a common-law claim.
Claims Against the Non-Moving Defendants
Guzman and Khouri had not moved to dismiss count two. The court stated that the registration requirement was not jurisdictional, so it did not have to address that issue on its own. However, because KGB had notice and an opportunity to address the same pleading problem, the court concluded that it could dismiss count two against Guzman and Khouri on its own initiative. It did so because the same failure to plead registration defeated the direct-infringement claim underlying Squarespace’s secondary-liability claim.
Amendment and Disposition
The court denied KGB leave to amend the furniture-design claims. It reasoned that registration could not cure the failure to register before the lawsuit was filed, making amendment futile. The conclusion states that Squarespace’s motion to dismiss was granted, count three was dismissed, and count two was dismissed on the court’s own initiative against Guzman and Khouri. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the pending motion at ECF No. 94.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.