Davis v. Pinterest, Inc.

Background

In May 2022, the court granted Pinterest’s motion for summary judgment and denied Harold Davis’s motion for summary judgment. Pinterest then filed a bill of costs seeking $27,812.09 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d). The Ninth Circuit affirmed the summary-judgment ruling in Pinterest’s favor. Davis moved to strike Pinterest’s bill of costs.

Motion to Strike the Bill of Costs

Rule 54(d) generally creates a presumption that costs will be awarded to the prevailing party, but a district court may exercise discretion to deny them. The court considered factors including the losing party’s financial resources, the economic disparity between the parties, the possible chilling effect on similar lawsuits, the difficulty of the issues, the extent of any recovery, and the case’s public importance.

The court found compelling reasons to deny costs. It emphasized the significant economic disparity between Davis, an individual with limited financial resources, and Pinterest, which the opinion describes as a public company with billions of dollars in revenue. The court also found that requiring Davis to pay the bill would cause significant hardship and could discourage future copyright claims against Pinterest. Although the court and the Ninth Circuit concluded that Pinterest should prevail on summary judgment, the court did not find the case so frivolous that costs should be used to punish Davis or deter future litigants.

The court granted Davis’s motion to strike the bill of costs and denied Pinterest’s request for costs in its entirety.

Motion to Seal

Davis also sought to seal his 2022 tax returns, which he submitted as evidence of his financial circumstances. Because the returns were attached to a nondispositive motion, the court applied the lower “good cause” standard for sealing documents. The court found good cause because the returns contained highly sensitive and personally identifiable information, including Davis’s income, and because the details were unnecessary to the public’s understanding of the proceedings.

Ruling

Judge Haywood Gilliam granted the motion to strike Pinterest’s bill of costs and granted the administrative motion to file Davis’s tax returns under seal. Under the court’s local rule, the sealed documents will remain under seal.