Johnson v. Classic Material NY, LLC

Background

Johnson, a professional photographer and business owner, sued Classic Material NY, LLC under the Copyright Act for directly infringing his copyright. He alleged that the defendant printed one of his photographs of recording artist and actress Aaliyah on apparel and sold the apparel through its website without permission. Johnson alleged that he owned the photographs, had registered them with the United States Copyright Office, and had not licensed the Aaliyah photograph to the defendant.

Johnson had sold apparel using the photograph from March 2016 through March 2019. He alleged that the defendant’s products used the same photograph but were lower quality. The defendant was served with the complaint on January 10, 2020, but did not respond or appear. The Clerk entered the defendant’s default, and Johnson moved for default judgment.

Liability

A default judgment is a judgment entered when a defendant fails to defend after being served. The court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true, but it must still determine whether those allegations establish a valid legal claim.

The court found that Johnson sufficiently alleged the elements of copyright infringement: ownership of a valid copyright, actual copying, and copying of original elements. Although Johnson’s registration occurred more than five years after the photographs were taken and therefore did not automatically create a presumption that the copyright was valid, the court exercised its discretion to treat the registration certificate as initial evidence of validity. The defendant offered no evidence challenging the copyright, and the record contained no indication that it was invalid.

The court also found that Johnson adequately alleged actual copying. The photograph had been publicly distributed and sold on Johnson’s apparel, providing a basis to infer that the defendant had access to it. The court examined images of Johnson’s photograph and the defendant’s product and found that they appeared identical. The court further found that Johnson adequately alleged originality based on his creative choices in organizing and conducting the photo shoot.

The court therefore concluded that Johnson established a basic claim for direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501.

Statutory damages

Johnson elected statutory damages instead of actual damages and the defendant’s profits. The Copyright Act generally permits statutory damages between $750 and $30,000 for the infringements involved, but permits up to $150,000 when the infringement was willful. The court found the infringement willful because the defendant, which the court described as an experienced apparel manufacturer and seller, at least recklessly disregarded the risk that it was infringing copyrighted material. The defendant’s failure to appear also supported the court’s conclusion.

Because the defendant did not participate in discovery, Johnson could not obtain the defendant’s exact sales figures. Johnson stated that the defendant sold an infringing T-shirt for $34.99 and an infringing sweatshirt for $54.99, and argued that his own sales of 201 apparel items reasonably approximated the defendant’s sales. The court accepted that approach and estimated the defendant’s revenue and overall profits at $18,085.98.

The court found that an award based only on that amount would be insufficient. It considered Johnson’s losses, the difficulty of measuring damage to the photograph’s market value and Johnson’s reputation, the high value of the copyrighted photographs, the defendant’s willfulness, and the need for deterrence. The court awarded three times the estimated profits, or $54,257.94, in statutory damages.

Attorney’s fees and costs

The court also awarded attorney’s fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. § 505. Johnson’s counsel requested fees based on an hourly rate of $385 and 10.7 hours of work. The court found both the rate and the hours reasonable and awarded $4,119.50 in attorney’s fees. It also awarded $681.25 in costs, consisting of a $400 filing fee and $281.25 in process-server fees.

Disposition

Judge Alison J. Nathan granted Johnson’s motion for default judgment. The court ordered judgment of $54,257.94 in statutory damages, $4,119.50 in attorney’s fees, and $681.25 in costs. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment and close the case.