ALLSTAR MARKETING GROUP, LLC v. ALLSTAR_PLACE

Background

Allstar Marketing Group, LLC sought final judgment and a permanent injunction against the Defaulting Defendants for copyright infringement. The alleged infringement involved the unauthorized use of Plaintiff’s copyrighted Happy Nappers works in connection with manufacturing, importing, exporting, advertising, marketing, promoting, distributing, displaying, offering for sale, and selling counterfeit products. Plaintiff represented that it had an exclusive license in the Happy Nappers works from Jay At Play International Hong Kong Limited doing business as Jay At Play, and that Jay At Play declined to bring an action against the defendants.

The court considered Plaintiff’s memorandum of law, the affidavit of Danielle S. Futterman, the certificate showing service of the summons and complaint, the Clerk’s certificate that no answer had been filed, and the other papers in the case. The court also heard Plaintiff’s counsel at a remote hearing on April 11, 2023.

Service

The court found that Plaintiff sufficiently showed it could not locate addresses for the Defaulting Defendants despite reasonable diligence. It therefore ruled that the Hague Convention did not apply and that Plaintiff’s alternative service satisfied the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and constitutional due process.

Liability

The court granted judgment in favor of Plaintiff against the Defaulting Defendants on the fifth cause of action in the complaint: copyright infringement. This was a default judgment, meaning the defendants’ failure to answer led to judgment without an opposing answer or defense being presented in the case.

Damages

Under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), the court awarded statutory damages—money authorized by the Copyright Act instead of requiring proof of exact losses. The court awarded $50,000 to each of the listed Defaulting Defendants who infringed three or more Happy Nappers works. It awarded $40,000 to each of the listed defendants identified as having infringed two or more works, and $30,000 to each of another listed group identified as having infringed two or more works. The awards totaled $1,830,000. The judgment also included post-judgment interest at the statutory rate under 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a).

Permanent Injunction and Other Relief

The court permanently prohibited the Defaulting Defendants, their officers, agents, employees, successors, assigns, and people acting with them who received actual notice of the order from reproducing, copying, adapting, displaying, distributing, transferring, or selling copies of Plaintiff’s Happy Nappers works through counterfeit products or other substantially similar or identical products. The order also barred direct or indirect copyright infringement and the unauthorized use of copies or imitations of the works to identify goods or services.

The Defaulting Defendants were further prohibited from concealing, destroying, altering, selling, transferring, or disposing of counterfeit products or records and evidence relating to their user accounts, storefronts, assets, or dealings in counterfeit products. The order also barred efforts to evade the injunction by forming new entities, transferring assets, or using other platforms, accounts, storefronts, or methods.

The court required the Defaulting Defendants to deliver for destruction counterfeit products and other materials in their possession, custody, or control that infringed Plaintiff’s copyrights or contained works substantially similar to the Happy Nappers works. Certain third-party service providers and financial institutions were also permanently prohibited from dealing with specified records and assets and from knowingly helping others engage in activities barred by the order.

The court dissolved the 30-day automatic stay on enforcement of the judgment, released Plaintiff’s $5,000 security bond to its counsel, and retained jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the order. Violations could be treated as contempt of court and could lead to remedies including fines and property seizures.