California Beach Co., LLC. v. Du

Background

The California Beach Co., LLC (CBC) moved for a temporary restraining order and asked the court to set a hearing on a preliminary injunction. CBC sought to restrain Han Xian Du from filing copyright takedown notices with internet platforms against CBC. The court set deadlines for a response and reply. Du did not file a response, and CBC filed a reply providing additional context.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that temporary restraining orders use the same general standards as preliminary injunctions. A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy, and the moving party must establish four factors: a likelihood of success on the merits, a likelihood of irreparable harm without relief, a favorable balance of hardships, and consistency with the public interest.

Based on the limited record, the court found that CBC was likely to succeed on its claim under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). That provision addresses knowingly making material misrepresentations that material or activity is infringing when a service provider removes or disables access to it. The court identified Facebook and Instagram as the relevant service providers in this finding.

The court also found that CBC showed a likelihood of irreparable harm, including permanently lost customers, reputational harm, and loss of customer goodwill, if Facebook and Instagram continued responding to Du’s takedown requests. The balance of hardships favored the order because the harm to CBC could be severe enough to affect its ability to continue operating, while Du could seek money damages if Du ultimately established legitimate copyright interests. To the extent the public interest was implicated, the court found that it favored preventing misuse of intellectual-property laws to wrongfully harm competition.

Order

The court granted CBC’s motion for a temporary restraining order. Du and all persons acting together with Du were temporarily restrained from taking down CBC’s online content or product line based on alleged copyright infringement from Facebook, Instagram, or any other service provider’s website. Du was temporarily barred from filing further takedown notices concerning that content or product line. Existing operative takedown notices filed by Du concerning CBC were restrained and were to be disregarded by the service provider.

Facebook and Instagram were specifically directed to disregard the identified takedown notices and reinstate CBC’s online content during the order’s period. The court made the restraint effective immediately and determined that no security bond was necessary. CBC was ordered to serve Du and file proof of service within 24 hours. The order stated that it would become permanent effective January 22, 2020 unless Du opposed it by January 15, 2020, or other specified action occurred. The court vacated the previously scheduled January 9 hearing and terminated Docket Number 4.