Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-07642
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 6
In Pearson Education v. Doe 1, Judge Abrams awarded statutory damages against defendants who defaulted after selling counterfeit books.
The plaintiffs received statutory damages. The defaulting defendants were ordered to pay: ABC Books LLC and Fidaa Hashemi jointly, $330,000; Leonard Johnson, $390,000; Bronislav Teplitskiy, $240,000; Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd. and Ranjan Kumar Behera jointly, $390,000; Maylourd Ascrate, $90,000; Soarbh Gupta and Madhu Gupta jointly, $600,000; and Geoffrey Labos, $600,000.
What happened
Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1 involved plaintiffs’ claims that the defendants sold counterfeit books. The court had already entered judgment against the nonresponding defendants and reserved the amount of damages for later decision.
The court found that Labos and Soarbh Gupta acted deliberately because each had previously agreed to stop selling counterfeit textbooks or was subject to an order prohibiting such sales. It did not find deliberate conduct established for the other defendants. The court awarded $100,000 per counterfeit book against Labos, $150,000 per book against Soarbh and Madhu Gupta together, and $30,000 per book against the remaining defendants.
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered total damages ranging from $90,000 to $600,000 for the different defendants or defendant groups, terminated the pending motion, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Pearson Education, Inc. v. Doe 1 · No. 1:19-cv-07642
- Ronnie Abrams
- Apr. 21, 2021
Background
The court had previously entered a default judgment—judgment after the defendants failed to respond—against ABC Books LLC, Fidaa Hashemi, Leonard Johnson, Bronislav Teplitskiy, Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd., Ranjan Kumar Behera, Geoffrey Labos, Maylourd Ascrate, Soarbh Gupta, and Madhu Gupta. The court had reserved the question of damages.
The plaintiffs sought statutory damages for copyright or trademark violations involving counterfeit books, but not both types of damages for the same book. The court explained that the Copyright Act and the Lanham Act allow courts to set statutory damages within specified ranges and, for willful infringement, to award higher amounts. Relevant considerations included the defendants’ sales and profits, the plaintiffs’ lost revenue, deterrence, cooperation, and whether the conduct was innocent or willful.
The defendants sold the following numbers of counterfeit books to the plaintiffs: Hashemi through ABC Books LLC, 11; Johnson, 13; Teplitskiy, 8; Behera through Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd., 13; Ascrate, 3; Soarbh Gupta, 4; and Labos, 6. The defendants did not respond to the amended complaint or comply with the court’s expedited discovery order, preventing the plaintiffs from inspecting their inventories or identifying the books’ sources.
Willfulness findings
The court found sufficient evidence that Labos and Soarbh Gupta acted willfully, meaning deliberately or knowingly. Soarbh Gupta had previously agreed in a settlement to stop selling counterfeit textbooks, and Labos was subject to an injunction prohibiting him from selling counterfeit books. The court concluded that both violated those restrictions.
The court did not find willfulness established for Hashemi, ABC Books LLC, Behera, Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd., or Johnson. Connections to other alleged counterfeiters and Johnson’s use of a marketplace known for counterfeit goods were not, by themselves, enough to establish willful infringement. The opinion also stated that it did not find willfulness as to Teplitskiy or Ascrate.
Ruling and damages
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered the following damages:
- ABC Books LLC and Hashemi together: $330,000 for 11 books at $30,000 per book. - Johnson: $390,000 for 13 books at $30,000 per book. - Teplitskiy: $240,000 for 8 books at $30,000 per book. - Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd. and Ranjan Kumar Behera together: $390,000 for 13 books at $30,000 per book. - Ascrate: $90,000 for 3 books at $30,000 per book. - Soarbh and Madhu Gupta together: $600,000 for 4 books at $150,000 per book. - Labos: $600,000 for 6 books at $100,000 per book.
The clerk was directed to terminate the motion pending at docket entry 159 and close the case.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.