Cawthon v. Zhousunyijie

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 18, 2024
Docket1:22-cv-03021
StatusUnknown

This text of Cawthon v. Zhousunyijie (Cawthon v. Zhousunyijie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cawthon v. Zhousunyijie, (S.D.N.Y. 2024).

Opinion

USDC SDNY DOCUMENT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ELECTRONICALLY FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: monn nrc nanan KK DATE FILED:_03/18/2024 SCOTT CAWTHON, : Plaintiff, : : 22-cv-03021 (LJL) -v- : : OPINION AND ORDER ZHOUSUNYIUIE, : Defendant. : wee KX LEWIS J. LIMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Scott Cawthon (“Plaintiff”) moves, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2), for default judgment on his copyright infringement claim against defendant Zhousunyiyie (“Defendant”). Dkt. No. 40. For the following reasons, the motion for default judgment is granted. BACKGROUND These facts are drawn from Plaintiff's complaint and are accepted as true for the purposes of this motion. Plaintiff is a resident of Texas and creator and intellectual property owner of the Five Nights at Freddy’s (“FNAF’”) series of horror video games and other media (the “Franchise”). Dkt. No. 1 § 10. The Franchise includes twelve games: Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 3, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, FNaF World, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, Ultimate Custom Night, Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted, Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery, Freddy in Space 2, and Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. Id. § 12. The FNAF games are available for purchase on a variety of traditional and virtual reality video game platforms, and have

enjoyed commercial success and critical acclaim—millions of copies of the Five Nights Games have been sold worldwide. Id. ¶ 14. As creator and owner of the Franchise, Plaintiff owns over 200 registered copyrights to unique characters and features of the Franchise. Id. ¶ 15. These include copyrights to characters Foxy the Pirate (Withered Version), Foxy the Pirate (Funtime

Version), Chica the Chicken (Withered Version), Freddy Fazbear (Nightmare Version), Bonnie the Rabbit (Nightmare Version), and Marionette (collectively, the “Copyrights”). Id. ¶ 16; Dkt. Nos. 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7. Plaintiff also licenses FNAF characters for use in merchandise through his licensing entity Scottgames, LLC, and the licensing portfolio has sold millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise in retail stores. Dkt. No. 1 ¶¶ 17–18. Defendant is a China-based Amazon seller that has been selling unauthorized toy figurines that copy, embody, or constitute derivative works of the Copyrights (“Infringing Product”). Id. ¶¶ 23–27; Dkt. No. 1-8. Defendant lists its address as 007894hao gongyeyuanchuangyedadaozhongduanzonghelouyilou wanzaixian yichunshi China. Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 3. Defendant is not an authorized licensee of Plaintiff, nor has it requested permission from

Plaintiff to use Plaintiff’s copyrighted characters for commercial purposes. Id. ¶¶ 28–30. Once Plaintiff became aware of the existence of the Infringing Product, he submitted a complaint to Amazon on or about March 10, 2022, pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), requesting that Amazon take down the listing. Id. ¶ 32. That same day, Amazon removed the Infringing Product from the Amazon website. Id. ¶ 33. On or about March 29, 2022, Defendant submitted a counter-notification to Amazon under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3) (“Counter Notice”). In the Counter Notice, Defendant certified to the following: • Its name (Zhousunyijie) • Its email address (effergergrg@163.com) • Its mailing address (007894hao gongyeyuanchuangyedadaozhongduanzonghelouyilou wanzaixian yichunshi China) • Its phone number (+8613905526844)

• Its consent to the jurisdiction of any judicial district in which Amazon is found. • Its agreement to accept service of process from Plaintiff or his agent. • Its statements contained in the Counter Notice were true and correct under penalty of perjury and any false statements in the Counter Notice could lead to civil penalties or criminal prosecution. Dkt. No. 1-1. The Counter Notice stated: You recently provided me with a copy of a Notice of Infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This letter is a Counter-Notification as authorized in § 512(g) of the DMCA. I have a good faith belief that the material identified in the Notice of Infringement was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled. I therefore request that the material be replaced and/or no longer disabled. . . .

(I) I am located in the United States and I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my address is located (OR) I am located outside of the United States and I consent to the jurisdiction of any judicial district in which Amazon may be found. (II) I agree to accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person. (III) I have a good faith belief that the material identified in the Notice of Infringement was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled. (IV) I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that this Counter- Notification and all statements therein are true and correct. (V) I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PROVIDING FALSE STATEMENT IN A COUNTER-NOTICE MAY LEAD TO CIVIL PENALTIES OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

Id. Upon receipt of the Counter Notice, Amazon notified Plaintiff that he had ten business days to file a complaint alleging copyright infringement or the Infringing Product would be re- listed on the Amazon website. Id. PROCEDURAL HISTORY Plaintiff initiated this action by complaint on April 12, 2022. Dkt. No. 1. On April 13,

2022, an electronic summons was issued as to Defendant. Dkt. No. 5. On November 21, 2022, Plaintiff filed a motion requesting leave of the Court to effect service on Defendant by email, rather than postal mail, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f) and submitted a brief in support of that motion. Dkt. No. 14.1 On January 31, 2023, the Court denied without prejudice Plaintiff’s motion for alternative service on the basis that the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters (“Hague Convention”) governs the process for service on foreign defendants and does not permit the use of email for service unless no mailing address for the receiving party can be found. Dkt. No. 16.2 On June 1, 2023, Plaintiff filed a second motion for alternative service, this time arguing that Defendant had waived service under the Hague

1 An initial pretrial conference was set for the morning of July 12, 2022. Dkt. No. 7. On July 8, 2022 Plaintiff submitted a motion to adjourn the initial pretrial conference until such time as Defendant answered the complaint or otherwise appeared in this matter. Dkt. No. 8. On July 15, 2022, this Court granted the motion to adjourn. Dkt. No. 9. On July 15, 2022, Plaintiff submitted a certificate of service of the summons and complaint on Defendant. Dkt. No. 10. On August 19, 2022, this Court held an initial pretrial conference where no counsel for the defense was present. August 19, 2022 Minute Entry. The Court then ordered Plaintiff to make a motion for default judgment by November 21, 2022. Dkt. No. 12. On November 22, 2022, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request to extend the deadline for the filing of a default judgment motion, pending a decision on Plaintiff’s motion for alternative service. November 22, 2022 Order.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hensley v. Eckerhart
461 U.S. 424 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc.
603 F.3d 135 (Second Circuit, 2010)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Fox v. Vice
131 S. Ct. 2205 (Supreme Court, 2011)
Millea v. Metro-North Railroad
658 F.3d 154 (Second Circuit, 2011)
Soptra Fabrics Corp. v. Stafford Knitting Mills, Inc.
490 F.2d 1092 (Second Circuit, 1974)
Eden Toys, Inc. v. Marshall Field & Company
675 F.2d 498 (Second Circuit, 1982)
Jorgensen v. Epic Sony Records
351 F.3d 46 (Second Circuit, 2003)
WPIX, Inc. v. Ivi, Inc.
691 F.3d 275 (Second Circuit, 2012)
Guggenheim Capital, LLC v. Birnbaum
722 F.3d 444 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Finkel v. Romanowicz
577 F.3d 79 (Second Circuit, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Cawthon v. Zhousunyijie, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cawthon-v-zhousunyijie-nysd-2024.