Curtis v. Illumination Arts, Inc.

957 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 86 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 112, 2013 WL 3788609, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101415
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedJuly 18, 2013
DocketCase No. C12-0991JLR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 957 F. Supp. 2d 1252 (Curtis v. Illumination Arts, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curtis v. Illumination Arts, Inc., 957 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 86 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 112, 2013 WL 3788609, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101415 (W.D. Wash. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS’ SECOND MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND SECOND MOTION FOR SANCTIONS

JAMES L. ROBART, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Before the court are two motions: (1) Plaintiffs Chara Curtis, Cynthia Aldrich, [1254]*1254and Alfred Currier’s second motion for partial summary judgment (2d SJ Mot. (Dkt. # 32)); and (2) Plaintiffs’ second motion for sanctions (2d Sane. Mot. (Dkt. # 30)). The court has considered both motions, all submissions filed in support of and opposition to the motions, the balance of record, and the applicable law. Being fully advised,1 the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ second motion for partial summary judgment and GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ second motion for sanctions.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Plaintiffs’ Second Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

This case involves claims for breach of contract and copyright infringement. (See generally Compl. (Dkt. # 1).) On May 29, 2013, 2013 WL 2389842, the court granted in part and denied in part Plaintiffs’ first motion for partial summary judgment. (See 5/29/13 Order (Dkt. # 29).) The court ruled that Defendants Illumination Arts, Inc. (“IAI”) and Illumination Arts Publishing, LLC (“IAP”) are liable to Plaintiffs for breach of contract. (Id. at 10, 13.) The court ruled that IAP is liable for IAI’s breach of contract because it is a mere continuation of IAI and that both entities will be subject to the same liability with respect to Plaintiffs claims because the corporate veil between IAI and IAP has been pierced. (Id. at 13, 18.) The court declined to pierce the corporate veil with respect to Defendants John Thompson’s and Kimmie Lynn Thompson’s personal liability because there was no evidence before the court that either of the Thompsons personally dissipated any of IAI’s or IAP’s assets or that their activities actually harmed Plaintiffs. (Id. at 18-19.) Finally, the court ruled that all Defendants were liable for copyright infringement and that the infringement was willful. (Id. at 19-23.) Based on the foregoing, the court also granted Plaintiffs a permanent injunction and ordered Defendants to return to Plaintiffs all infringing copies of Plaintiffs’ books. (Id. at 23-24.) Plaintiffs now seek an additional order on summary judgment with respect to damages for breach of contract and statutory damages for willful copyright infringement. (See generally 2d SJ Mot.)

With respect to breach of contract damages, Plaintiffs assert that between 1998 and 2011, Defendants sold 77,869 copies of the books at issue: (1) 4,786 copies of How Far to Heaven?, (2) 19,328 copies of Fun Is a Feeling, and (3) 53,755 copies of All I See Is a Part of Me. (See 6/5/13 Kruckeberg Deck re: SJ (Dkt. # 34) Exs. A-C.) The retail or list price for each book is $15.95. (See id.; 3/28/13 Kruckeberg Deck (Dkt. # 24) Ex. J.) The publishing agreements for Fun Is a Feeling provide that each author is to receive a royalty of 5% for the first 10,000 copies sold and 6.25% for the next 20,000 copies sold. (Id. Exs. F at 3, G at 4.) Similarly, the publishing agreements for How Far to Heaven? provide for each author to receive a royalty of 5% for the first 10,000 copies sold and 6.25% for the next 20,000 copies sold. (Id. Exs. D at 3-4, E at 4.) Accordingly, Plaintiffs calculate their royalty rate for all sales of all books as follows: $53,526.61 for Mr. Curtis, $49,709.77 for Ms. Adrich, and $3,816.84 for Mr. Currier. (See 2d Sane. Mot. at 9-10.) Comparing these figures to available tax records, Plaintiffs also calculate that Mr. Curtis was underpaid $5,790.84 or roughly 10.82%. (See 6/5/13 Curtis Deck (Dkt. # 33) ¶ 3, Ex. A.)

Plaintiffs do not, however, provide direct evidence of the amount of royalty underpayments with respect to Ms. Adrich and [1255]*1255Mr. Currier. Rather, Plaintiffs infer that, if Defendants had permitted an audit as required by the publishing contracts between Plaintiffs and IAI, Ms. Aldrich and Mr. Currier could have expected to find and recoup similar underpayments in the amounts of $5,377.91 and $412.93, respectively. (See Mot. at 10.)

Plaintiffs note that because the court denied their motion to pierce the corporate veil between the corporate entities, IAI and IAP, on the one hand, and the Thompsons, on the other hand, their claim for contract damages is limited to IAI and IAP. (See Mot. at 8, n. 1.) However, if the court were to grant their pending motion for sanctions, then Plaintiffs would ask the court to find Mr. Thompson and Ms. Thompson jointly and severally liable with IAI and IAP. (See id.)

In addition to damages for their breach of contract claim, Plaintiffs seek $150,000 each as maximum statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(l, 2) for willful copyright infringement. (2d SJ Mot. at 4-5.) Defendants provided no argument or evidence in contradiction to Plaintiffs’ evidence with respect to Plaintiffs’ claimed contract and willful copyright infringement damages.

B. Plaintiffs’ Second Motion for Sanctions

Plaintiffs have also moved separately for additional sanctions against Defendants. (See generally 2d Sane. Mot.) On November 29, 2012, Plaintiffs served Defendants with a set of discovery requests that included interrogatories, requests for the production of documents, and requests for admission. (1/21/13 Kruckeberg Deel. (Dkt. # 17) ¶ 2, Ex. A.) By January 31, 2013, Plaintiffs had received no responses or objections to any of the discovery requests (id. ¶ 12), and they moved to compel responses and for sanctions (see generally Mot. to Compel (Dkt. # 16)). Defendants filed no response to Plaintiffs’ motion to compel. (See 2/20/13 Order (Dkt. # 19) at 3.) On February 20, 2013, the court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to compel, found that Defendants had waived any objections to Plaintiffs’ discovery requests, and ordered Defendants to “provide complete responses ... no later than March 1, 2013.” (Id. at 6, 8.) In addition, the court ordered Defendants to pay sanctions to Plaintiffs in the form of Plaintiffs’ reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees incurred in bringing the ... [discovery] motion.” (Id. at 8.)

On February 20, 2013, the same day as the court’s ruling on discovery and sanctions above, Defendants served their initial answers to Plaintiffs’ discovery requests. (See 6/5/13 Kruckeberg Deck re Sane. (Dkt. # 31) Ex. A.) Despite the court’s order stating that Defendants had waived any objections to Plaintiffs’ discovery requests, Defendants objected to requests for production and interrogatories related to Ms. Thompson’s financial records. (See id.) Between February 27 and February 29, 2013, Defendants began producing financial records relating to Mr. Thompson, IAI, and IAP, but they produced no information regarding Ms. Thompson’s financial records. (Id. ¶ 6.) To date, Defendants have produced no documents or information related to Plaintiffs’ discovery requests concerning Ms. Thompson. Plaintiffs assert that they have been prejudiced by Defendants’ failure to produce any of the requested financial information concerning Ms.

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Related

Curtis v. Illumination Arts, Inc.
33 F. Supp. 3d 1200 (W.D. Washington, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
957 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 86 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 112, 2013 WL 3788609, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curtis-v-illumination-arts-inc-wawd-2013.