Stokes v. MilkChocolateNYC LLC
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:22-cv-06786
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Stokes v. MilkChocolateNYC LLC, Judge Engelmayer entered default judgment for copyright infringement and awarded damages, fees, costs, and a permanent injunction.
Michael Stokes received $30,000 in statutory damages, $4,583 in attorneys’ fees, and $576 in costs. MilkChocolateNYC LLC was subjected to default judgment and a permanent injunction barring further infringement of the photograph, and the case was closed.
What happened
In Stokes v. MilkChocolateNYC LLC, photographer Michael Stokes sought damages, claiming MilkChocolateNYC LLC copied and used his photograph on its social media account without permission.
MilkChocolateNYC LLC did not timely answer the lawsuit, respond to the request for default judgment, or otherwise appear. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger recommended entering default judgment and awarding damages, fees, costs, and a permanent injunction. No party objected to that recommendation.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer adopted the recommendation in full. The court entered default judgment against MilkChocolateNYC LLC, awarded Stokes $30,000 in statutory damages, $4,583 in attorneys’ fees, and $576 in costs, permanently barred further infringement of the photograph, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Stokes v. MilkChocolateNYC LLC · No. 1:22-cv-06786
- Paul Engelmayer
- July 11, 2023
Background
Michael Stokes, described in the opinion as a professional photographer, sued MilkChocolateNYC LLC for allegedly copying, displaying, and using his photograph on its social media account without authorization. He sought damages for copyright infringement.
MilkChocolateNYC LLC was served with the summons and complaint on September 16, 2022, through its registered agent, and again on September 23, 2022, by certified mail. Its answer was due no later than October 14, 2022, but it did not file one.
Default-judgment proceedings
On January 27, 2023, Stokes obtained a Clerk’s certificate of default, which formally recorded the defendant’s failure to respond. On February 27, 2023, Stokes moved for default judgment and served the motion on MilkChocolateNYC LLC. The court referred the motion to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for a report and recommendation. Judge Lehrburger ordered MilkChocolateNYC LLC to respond by March 17, 2023, but it did not respond and did not otherwise appear.
On June 20, 2023, Judge Lehrburger recommended entering default judgment for Stokes, awarding $30,000 in statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), $4,583 in attorneys’ fees, and $576 in costs, denying prejudgment interest, and permanently stopping MilkChocolateNYC LLC from continuing to infringe Stokes’s copyright in the photograph. No party filed objections.
Court’s review and ruling
Because no objections were filed, the court reviewed the report and recommendation for clear error—an examination for obvious mistakes in the record. Judge Engelmayer found no facial error and adopted the report in its entirety.
The court entered default judgment against MilkChocolateNYC LLC and awarded Stokes $30,000 in statutory damages, $4,583 in attorneys’ fees, and $576 in costs. It also permanently enjoined MilkChocolateNYC LLC from further infringing conduct concerning the photograph. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the pending motion and the case. The court also stated that the parties’ failure to object waived appellate review, as described in the opinion.
Classification note
This is classified as a procedural order under the stated convention because the judgment followed the defendant’s nonappearance and default rather than an adversarial determination of the copyright claim.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.