CONTENT & COMMERCE, INC. v. CHANDLER

District Court, S.D. Indiana·Decided October 17, 2022·No. 1:20-cv-02488·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

CONTENT & COMMERCE, INC. and ) KEVIN DETRUDE, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) No. 1:20-cv-02488-JMS-DLP ) DONNA CHANDLER, SHOW COLORS, INC., ) and MY K9 BEHAVES, LLC, ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) SHOW COLORS, INC., DONNA CHANDLER, ) and MY K9 BEHAVES, LLC, ) ) Consol. Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) ) CONTENT & COMMERCE, INC., KEVIN ) DETRUDE, and MY K9 BEHAVES, LLC, ) ) Consol. Defendants. ) ) ) SHOW COLORS, INC. and DONNA ) CHANDLER, ) ) Counterclaimants, ) ) vs. ) ) CONTENT & COMMERCE, INC., KEVIN ) DETRUDE, and MY K9 BEHAVES, LLC, ) ) Counter Defendants. ) ORDER Presently pending before the Court are: (1) a Motion to Alter or Amend the Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law or, In the Alternative, Motion to Set Aside ("Motion to Reconsider") filed by Plaintiffs/Consolidated Defendants/Counter Defendants Content &

Commerce, Inc. ("Content & Commerce") and Kevin DeTrude, (collectively, "the C&C Parties"), [Filing No. 204]; and (2) a Motion for Civil Contempt of Court ("Contempt Motion") filed by Defendants/Consolidated Plaintiffs/Counterclaimants Donna Chandler and Show Colors, Inc. (collectively, "the Chandler Parties"), [Filing No. 224]. This Order addresses each of those motions, as well as other matters. I. BACKGROUND

Ms. Chandler, Mr. DeTrude, and Content & Commerce (acting through its owner, Keneth Zweigel), formed a company called My K9 Behaves, LLC ("My K9 Behaves") to develop and distribute materials related to canine behavioral training. The relationship eventually grew contentious, with Ms. Chandler on one side and Mr. DeTrude and Mr. Zweigel together on the other. The Chandler Parties and the C&C Parties each filed separate lawsuits suing the other, which were ultimately consolidated into the present action before this Court. Among the various claims at issue in this lawsuit was a claim by the Chandler Parties, asking the Court to judicially dissolve My K9 Behaves pursuant to Indiana Code § 23-18-9-2. In February 2021, the Chandler Parties filed a Motion for Injunctive Relief, asking the Court to judicially dissolve My K9 Behaves and to enjoin the C&C Parties and Mr. Zweigel from, among other things: utilizing Ms. Chandler's name, image, and likeness; interfering with Ms. Chandler's business relationships; using Ms. Chandler's intellectual property; and operating My K9 Behaves. [Filing No. 51.] On August 11, August 12, and September 9, 2021, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the Chandler Parties' Motion for Injunctive Relief. [See Filing No. 143; Filing No. 144; Filing No. 153.] At the start of the hearing, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a)(2), the Court consolidated the evidentiary hearing with a trial on the merits solely on the issue of the Chandler Parties' claim for judicial dissolution of My K9 Behaves.

[See Filing No. 143 at 2.] The hearing was bifurcated in order to afford the C&C parties an opportunity to prepare their evidentiary presentation. They opted not to present evidence at the second hearing date. On February 1, 2022, the Court issued is Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, which judicially dissolved My K9 Behaves ("the Dissolution Order"). [Filing No. 194.] In doing so, the Court noted that judicial dissolution is a proceeding in equity and looked to the Operating Agreement of My K9 Behaves as a guide in fashioning an equitable process for dissolving the company. [Filing No. 194 at 24-27.] Specifically, the Court determined that, consistent with the spirit of the Operating Agreement, "[o]wnership of any and all trademark and copyright interests relating to Ms. Chandler's works on canine behavioral training—including but not limited to her

published books, training manual, [a canine training video called Good Dog! Oneder Class ("the Video")], and any other derivative works—shall be transferred from My K9 Behaves to Ms. Chandler." [Filing No. 194 at 24-26; Filing No. 194 at 29.] The Court further determined that the Chandler Parties would be required to pay the C&C Parties consideration for their membership interests in My K9 Behaves in the amount of five years' worth of earnings, although the Court did not specifically determine a payout amount and instead left that question open for resolution following additional submissions by the parties. [Filing No. 194 at 26-29.] Finally, the Court ordered the parties to confer, and to call upon the Magistrate Judge if necessary, to settle My K9 Behaves' remaining affairs by mutual agreement. [Filing No. 194 at 27; see also Filing No. 194 at 29 ("The parties shall confer and endeavor to wind-up the affairs of My K9 Behaves, including any actions not specifically addressed in this Order[.]").] On March 1, 2022, the C&C Parties filed their Motion to Reconsider. [Filing No. 204.] On May 6, 2022, the Chandler Parties filed their Contempt Motion. [Filing No. 224.] Both

motions were fully briefed, and the Court held a hearing on the motions on September 30, 2022. [See Filing No. 253.] Accordingly, the motions are ripe for the Court's decision. II. MOTION TO RECONSIDER

A. Standard of Review The C&C Parties seek relief under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 52(b), 59(e), and 60(b). [See Filing No. 207.] They do not, however, address Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), which the Court finds is the proper vehicle for the relief the C&C Parties seek. See Mintz v. Caterpillar Inc., 788 F.3d 673, 679 (7th Cir. 2015) (concluding that the district court erred in considering a motion for reconsideration under Rule 60(b) because "no final judgment had been entered yet" and "[t]hus, Rule 60(b) was inapplicable"); Galvan v. Norberg, 678 F.3d 581, 587 n.3 (7th Cir. 2012) (explaining that "a traditional Rule 59(e) motion to reconsider . . . can only follow a 'judgment'" while "Rule 54(b) governs non-final orders and permits revision at any time prior to the entry of judgment").1 Rule 54(b) provides that "any order or . . . decision, however designated, that adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties does not end the

1 Although there are procedural differences between each of these rules, the standards for obtaining relief under these rules are not so different as to affect the result in this case. See, e.g., Brightview Grp., LP v. Teeters, 2020 WL 4003168, at *2 (D. Md. July 15, 2020) ("Generally, whether a motion is filed under Rule 52(b), 54(b), 59(e), or 60(b), the moving party must demonstrate a clear legal error in the Court's prior ruling, provide newly discovered evidence that warrants reconsideration, or cite some intervening change in controlling law."). action as to any of the claims or parties and may be revised at any time before the entry of a judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties' rights and liabilities." Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). "Motions to reconsider serve a limited function, to be used 'where the Court has patently

misunderstood a party, or has made a decision outside the adversarial issues presented to the Court by the parties, or has made an error not of reasoning but of apprehension.'" Davis v. Carmel Clay Schs., 286 F.R.D. 411, 412 (S.D. Ind. 2012) (quoting Bank of Waunakee v.

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