Eclipse Sportswire v. Sports Moments Plus, LLC

Background

Eclipse Sportswire, an editorial photography entity specializing in horse-sports photography, sued Sports Moments Plus, LLC, and John Binetti. The opinion states that Sports Moments Plus operates a retail website selling photographs of sporting events, that Binetti owns the company, and that he lives in Scott County, Minnesota.

Eclipse registered two photographs of a thoroughbred horse race with the Register of Copyrights. Eclipse later discovered that the defendants had listed the photographs for sale on the company’s website. Eclipse alleged that the defendants had no license or permission to use, copy, distribute, or display the photographs. Eclipse notified the defendants of the alleged unauthorized use, but they did not respond to the lawsuit.

Eclipse asserted three claims: copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement against Sports Moments Plus, and common-law unfair competition. The clerk entered default against both defendants after they failed to answer or otherwise respond.

Claims and liability

For a default judgment, the court accepts the complaint’s factual allegations as true, except allegations about the amount of damages. The court must still determine whether those facts establish a valid claim and must determine the damages amount.

The court held that Eclipse’s allegations established copyright-infringement claims against both Sports Moments Plus and Binetti. The court also accepted Eclipse’s allegation that the infringement was willful because the defendants were in default. “Willful” infringement means intentional or knowing infringement for purposes of the damages analysis.

The court denied default judgment on the unfair-competition claim. Under Minnesota law, unfair competition is a general category of claims that must be based on an underlying tort. The court concluded that Eclipse’s unfair-competition claim duplicated its copyright-infringement claim.

Damages

The Copyright Act permits statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 for each infringement, and up to $150,000 for each work when the infringement is willful. Eclipse requested either the statutory maximum for the two photographs or $50,000 based on the photographs’ claimed licensing value.

The court concluded that the alleged conduct was not sufficiently egregious to justify the $300,000 statutory maximum. Instead, it awarded $25,000 in statutory damages, calculated as five times the stated $2,500 license fee for each photograph. The court said this amount addressed compensation and deterrence.

Attorneys’ fees and costs

The court determined that Eclipse was entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs as the prevailing party on the copyright claims. Applying the lodestar method—reasonable hours multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate—the court found the claimed hourly rates reasonable.

The court found that some billing entries were not adequately described. It deducted $420 for 2.4 hours of client-services-liaison work, $320 for 1.6 hours of paralegal matter-administration work, and $1,427.50 for 4.85 hours of unidentified email correspondence. In the analysis, the court stated that it awarded $8,994 in attorneys’ fees, along with $787 in costs.

Interest and order

The court granted post-judgment interest at the rate specified by 28 U.S.C. § 1961 and denied pre-judgment interest. The final order awarded $25,000 in statutory damages, $9,259 in attorneys’ fees, $787 in costs, and post-judgment interest on the total judgment of $35,046. It directed the clerk to enter judgment for that amount against Sports Moments Plus and John Binetti in favor of Eclipse Sportswire.

The court therefore granted in part and denied in part Eclipse’s motion for default judgment.