Adlife Marketing & Communications Company, Inc. v. June Media Inc.

Background

Adlife brought one copyright-infringement claim, alleging that June Media published twelve of Adlife’s copyrighted photographs on June Media’s recipe-focused website without permission or consent. Adlife attached copyright registrations for the photographs to its Second Amended Complaint.

June Media filed an answer, but its attorney later received permission to withdraw after representing that all of June Media’s officers and directors had resigned. The court expressly warned June Media that, because it was not a natural person, it had to appear through an attorney. No attorney appeared for June Media afterward. June Media also failed to appear at a pretrial conference. The Clerk of Court later issued a Certificate of Default.

Adlife did not initially move for default judgment within the time directed by the court. After the court ordered Adlife to explain why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute, Adlife responded that it wanted to proceed and then filed the default-judgment motion. The court declined to dismiss the case for failure to prosecute.

Liability

The court concluded that it had personal jurisdiction over June Media and subject-matter jurisdiction under the Copyright Act. To establish copyright infringement, a plaintiff must show ownership of a valid copyright and copying of original elements of the work.

A default judgment is a judgment entered when a defendant fails to participate in the case. In this setting, the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint are treated as admitted. The court found that Adlife’s allegations plausibly established ownership of valid copyrights in the twelve photographs and June Media’s unauthorized publication of those photographs. The court therefore concluded that default judgment was appropriate as to liability.

Damages and fees

Adlife requested $5,000 for each of the twelve infringed works, or $60,000 total, under the Copyright Act’s statutory-damages provision. The court considered the relevant factors, including the defendant’s state of mind, saved expenses and profits, the copyright holder’s lost revenue, deterrence, cooperation in providing evidence, and the parties’ conduct.

The court awarded $1,500 per infringed work, for total statutory damages of $18,000. It stated that the award accounted for deterrence, June Media’s conduct and lack of cooperation as reflected in its default, the willfulness of the infringement, the context of the infringement, and the lack of evidence of Adlife’s actual losses.

The court also found reasonable Adlife’s request for $765 in attorneys’ fees and $440 in expenses. The fees represented 1.8 hours of attorney time at $425 per hour. The expenses consisted of a $400 filing fee and $40 for service of process.

Disposition

Judge Castel granted Adlife’s motion for entry of default judgment. The court awarded Adlife $18,000 in damages, $765 in attorneys’ fees, and $440 in expenses. It directed the Clerk to terminate the motion, enter judgment for Adlife, and close the case.