Baker v. Weber
- John Cronan
- 1:19-cv-01093
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Baker v. Weber, Judge Cronan awarded no damages but granted declaratory relief concerning Baker’s publishing agreement and copyrights.
Tanisia N. Baker received no damages but received declaratory relief concerning the publishing agreement and copyrights. The declarations concerned the three defaulting defendants and Triple Crown Productions, LLC.
What happened
In Baker v. Weber, Tanisia N. Baker sued publisher defendants for unpaid royalties from books she authored. Three defendants—Vickie Stringer, Vickie Stringer Publishing LLC, and Vickie Stringer Agency LLC—defaulted, and the court previously found them liable for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud.
A magistrate judge reviewed Baker’s submissions and recommended awarding no damages because the evidence did not sufficiently support her claimed damages or any other damages. Baker did not object to that recommendation and had waived damages for her fraud and conspiracy claims by not requesting them in her damages submission.
Judge John P. Cronan independently reviewed and adopted the recommendation in full. The court awarded Baker no damages on her claims but granted declaratory relief, ruling that the publishing agreement had ended, that the copyrights to “Sheisty” and “Still Sheisty” belonged to Baker, and that Triple Crown Productions, LLC lacked authority to license those works in October 2014; the clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
The detailed version
- Baker v. Weber · No. 1:19-cv-01093
- John Cronan
- Jan. 17, 2023
Background
Tanisia N. Baker brought this action against several publisher defendants seeking unpaid royalties from books she authored. After several defendants settled, Vickie Stringer, Vickie Stringer Publishing LLC, and Vickie Stringer Agency LLC defaulted. At a March 22, 2022 hearing, the court found each of those defendants liable for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, and civil conspiracy to commit fraud. The court also granted Baker’s request for declaratory relief and referred the case to Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein to determine damages.
Damages Recommendation
Baker submitted proposed findings and supporting materials seeking damages only for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. By not requesting damages for fraud or conspiracy to commit fraud in that submission, Baker waived damages on those claims. Judge Gorenstein reviewed the materials and recommended awarding no damages on the breach-of-contract and unjust-enrichment claims because the evidence did not sufficiently support Baker’s claimed damages or any other damages.
The recommendation advised the parties that they had fourteen days to object. No objections were filed before the deadline, so the parties waived their right to object or obtain appellate review of the recommendation. Even so, the district court conducted an independent review rather than only checking for clear error.
Ruling
Judge Cronan found the recommendation well reasoned and adopted it in its entirety. The court awarded Baker no damages on any of her claims.
The court also granted the declaratory relief previously requested by Baker. It declared that:
- The November 1, 2003 Publishing Agreement terminated on October 10, 2011, when the copyrights to “Sheisty” and “Still Sheisty” reverted to Baker;
- Baker owns the copyrights in “Sheisty” and “Still Sheisty”; and
- Triple Crown Productions, LLC did not have authority to license “Sheisty” and “Still Sheisty” in October 2014.
The clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.