Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. v. Enthusiast Gaming, Inc.
- Lucy Koh
- 5:19-cv-06399
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 8
In Michael Grecco Productions v. Enthusiast Gaming, Judge Koh granted the copyright plaintiff’s fee motion and awarded $17,675.
Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. was awarded $17,675 in attorney’s fees after prevailing on its copyright-infringement claim; the award affects Enthusiast Gaming, Inc.
What happened
Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. sued Enthusiast Gaming, Inc. for allegedly using a copyrighted photograph without permission. The court previously entered judgment for Michael Grecco Productions on its copyright-infringement claim and awarded $62,500 in statutory damages and $1,032.23 in costs.
The court used a method that multiplies reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate. It found attorney Peter Perkowski’s requested rate of $500 per hour and 35.35 hours of work reasonable, including work on the complaint, default-judgment motions, and fee motion.
Judge Lucy H. Koh granted Michael Grecco Productions, Inc.’s motion for attorney’s fees and awarded $17,675. The opinion does not state that Enthusiast Gaming opposed the motion; it says the company had not appeared or responded.
The detailed version
- Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. v. Enthusiast Gaming, Inc. · No. 5:19-cv-06399
- Lucy Koh
- May 18, 2021
Background
Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. sued Enthusiast Gaming, Inc. for copyright infringement involving a promotional photograph of actress Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys, a fictional character from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” The plaintiff alleged that Enthusiast Gaming published the photograph on its website without authorization.
The court previously granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s renewed motion for default judgment. It entered judgment for the plaintiff on the copyright-infringement claim, awarded $62,500 in statutory damages, and granted the plaintiff’s request for costs in the amount of $1,032.23. It did not enter default judgment on the plaintiff’s claim for vicarious or contributory copyright infringement because that claim had not been briefed. The court also previously denied attorney’s fees because counsel had not provided billing records showing the hours spent on each task, while allowing the plaintiff to file a renewed fee motion with that information.
Legal standard and analysis
The Copyright Act permits a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing party. The court applied the lodestar method, which calculates a presumptively reasonable fee by multiplying the reasonable hourly rate by the number of hours reasonably spent on the litigation.
The plaintiff requested fees for attorney Peter Perkowski at $500 per hour. Based on Perkowski’s experience, qualifications, intellectual-property practice, and prior billing rate, the court found the requested hourly rate reasonable. Perkowski’s declaration stated that he spent 35.35 hours on the case and provided a detailed breakdown of the work. The court found the hours reasonable and necessary, including time spent investigating and preparing the complaint, seeking entry of default and default judgment, and preparing the fee motion. The court also found that preparing two default-judgment motions did not improperly duplicate work because the second motion built on the first.
Ruling
The court multiplied $500 by 35.35 hours and calculated a lodestar of $17,675. Judge Lucy H. Koh granted the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and awarded $17,675.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.