DP Creations v. Adolly.com

CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedDecember 9, 2024
Docket2:22-cv-00230
StatusUnknown

This text of DP Creations v. Adolly.com (DP Creations v. Adolly.com) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DP Creations v. Adolly.com, (D. Utah 2024).

Opinion

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH

DP CREATIONS, LLC d/b/a BOUNTIFUL SECOND MEMORANDUM DECISION BABY, a Utah limited liability company, AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S [57] Plaintiff, SECOND MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT v. INJUNCTION

ADOLLY.COM, an unknown Chinese business Case No. 2:22-cv-00230-DBB entity; SHENZHEN CITY AIDUOLA

HUALIANWANG, LTD. d/b/a ADOLLY US, District Judge David Barlow an unknown Chinese business entity;

HUIZHOU CITY OTARD GIFTS, LTD. d/b/a

OTARDDOLLS, an unknown Chinese business

entity; RUGAO LUOEN TRADING CO., LTD. d/b/a REBORN DOLL GALLERY, an unknown Chinese business entity; and NANJING TIANZENG GIFTS, LTD. d/b/a NPK, an unknown Chinese business entity,

Defendants.

Plaintiff DP Creations, LLC doing business as Bountiful Baby (“Bountiful Baby”) sells kits and supplies to create lifelike infant dolls known as “reborn dolls.”1 On March 30, 2022, Bountiful Baby filed its Complaint for copyright infringement against Defendants Adolly.com (“ADC”), Shenzhen City Aiduola Hualianwang, Ltd., doing business as Adolly US (“AUS”), Huizhou City Otard Gifts doing business as OtardDolls (“OTD”), Rugao Luoen Trading Co., Ltd. doing business as Reborn Doll Gallery (“RDG”), and Nanjing Tianzeng Gifts, Ltd. doing

1 Compl. ¶¶ 3–4, 16, ECF No. 1, filed Mar. 30, 2022. See DP Creations, LLC v. Reborn Baby Mart, No. 2:21-cv- 00574, 2021 WL 5826438, at *1 (D. Utah Dec. 8, 2021) (“Reborn dolls are intended to be indistinguishable from a real baby, and Bountiful Baby’s dolls are particularly known for their uncanny realism.”). business as NPK (“NPK”) (collectively “Defendants”). On May 17, 2023, the court granted in part and denied in part Bountiful Baby’s motions for default judgment and for a permanent injunction.2 In its order, the court found that it lacked personal jurisdiction over AUS, RDG, and NPK.3 Bountiful Baby appealed as to AUS and RDG. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit held that this court has personal jurisdiction over AUS and RDG and remanded the case to this court.4 For the reasons below, the court grants in part and denies in part Bountiful Baby’s second motion for default judgment against AUS and RDG.5 DISCUSSION Bountiful Baby seeks default judgment, a permanent injunction, and attorney’s fees and costs. The court first discusses default judgment.

I. Default Judgment Because the court has jurisdiction over AUS and RDG, it must determine whether default judgment is appropriate. “Default judgment is a harsh sanction.”6 It “must normally be viewed as available only when the adversary process has been halted because of an essentially unresponsive party . . . . [T]he diligent party must be protected lest he be faced with interminable delay and continued uncertainty as to his rights.”7 Despite service of process and notice occurring in April 2022, AUS and RDG have failed to appear or defend against Bountiful Baby’s

2 Mem. Dec. & Order, ECF No. 60, filed on May 17, 2023. 3 Id. 4 DP Creations, LLC v. Adolly.com, No. 23-4126, 2024 WL 4491924 (10th Cir. Oct. 15, 2024), ECF No. 77, filed on November 6, 2024. 5 By this order, the court amends its two prior orders, ECF Nos. 43, 60, in line with this holding. 6 M.E.N. Co. v. Control Fluidics, Inc., 834 F.2d 869, 872 (10th Cir. 1987). 7 Curne v. Liberty Mut. Ins., No. 21-3159, 2022 WL 1440650, at *3 (10th Cir. May 6, 2022) (unpublished) (quoting In re Rains, 946 F.2d 731, 732–33 (10th Cir. 1991)). claims.8 “Once default is entered, ‘it remains for the court to consider whether the unchallenged

facts constitute a legitimate cause of action, since a party in default does not admit mere conclusions of law.’”9 Bountiful Baby is entitled to judgment if the Complaint and any record evidence support the claims and damages. A. Default Judgment Is Proper Against AUS and RDG for Five and Three Counts of Willful Infringement, Respectfully 1. Claims Bountiful Baby alleges that AUS and RDG infringed seven and three protected sculptures, respectively.10 “Copyright infringement requires that the plaintiff prove two elements: ‘(1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work that are original.’”11 Bountiful Baby has shown that it owns the United States Copyright Registration Numbers for the ten relevant sculptures.12 As to the second element, the Copyright Act “enshrines the ‘fundamental tenet’ that copyright ‘protection extends only to the author’s original expression and not to the ideas embodied in that expression.’”13 Bountiful Baby alleges that the baby sculptures are protectable expression because for each sculpture there are identifying features that make each one unique and distinguishable.14

8 See ECF No. 23. 9 Bixler v. Foster, 596 F.3d 751, 762 (10th Cir. 2010) (quoting 10A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary K. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2688, at 63 (3d ed. 1998)). 10 Second Mot. for Default J. 2–3; Compl. ¶¶ 21, 26, 28, 38; Exs. D, H, J, Q, ECF Nos. 1-10, 1-19, 1-23, 1-37. In its Second Mot. for Default J., Bountiful Baby provides a chart summarizing the number of copyrighted works infringed by AUS and RDG. Second Mot. for Default J. 3. This chart states that AUS and RDG each infringed four copyrighted works but does not appear to match with the number of infringed works identified in the Complaint. 11 Craft Smith, LLC v. EC Design, LLC, 969 F.3d 1092, 1099 (10th Cir. 2020) (quoting Feist Publ’ns Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 361 (1991)). 12 Compl. ¶¶ 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 37, 38; Exs. D, H, J, Q. 13 Blehm v. Jacobs, 702 F.3d 1193, 1200 (10th Cir. 2012) (quoting Gates Rubber Co. v. Bando Chem. Indus., Ltd., 9 F.3d 832, 836 (10th Cir. 1993)); see id. (“[I]n looking at . . . two works of art to determine whether they are substantially similar, focus must be on the similarity of the expression of an idea or fact, not on the similarity of the facts, ideas or concepts themselves.” (quoting Rogers v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301, 308 (2d Cir. 1992))). 14 See Compl. ¶¶ 19–51. “[C]ourts comparing works must first distill the protectable elements of the copyrighted work”15 using the “‘abstraction-filtration-comparison’ test.”16 This test, “although sound in theory, is often difficult to apply in practice.”17 As a result, courts have utilized a more straightforward analysis when allegedly infringing products are claimed to be identical to the plaintiff’s product. If “viewing the original and copied images makes clear that Defendants have copied every single constituent element of Bountiful Baby’s copyrighted” sculptures, then there is a basis for the claim.18 The court therefore analyzes each of the seven copyrighted sculptures with respect to dolls sold by AUS and RDG. a. Joseph Asleep Head, Joseph Arms, and Joseph Legs First, Bountiful Baby alleges that AUS infringed the Joseph Asleep Head.19 Comparing an image of the Joseph Asleep Head to images of AUS dolls, the court finds that the heads of the

AUS dolls appear to be exact copies.20 The respective facial features have the same proportions. The distance between the eyes, nose, and lips appears identical. The eyes have the same shape and comparative size. The eyebrow ridges have the same size, shape, and orientation. The nose has the same shape.

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

Related

Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc.
510 U.S. 517 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc.
523 U.S. 340 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc.
603 F.3d 135 (Second Circuit, 2010)
Mitel, Inc. v. Iqtel, Inc.
124 F.3d 1366 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
Bixler v. Foster
596 F.3d 751 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
Tom Venable v. T.J. Haislip
721 F.2d 297 (Tenth Circuit, 1983)
Co. v. Control Fluidics, Inc.
834 F.2d 869 (Tenth Circuit, 1987)
Walt Disney Company v. Carl Powell
897 F.2d 565 (D.C. Circuit, 1990)
Marx v. General Revenue Corp.
668 F.3d 1174 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
ZINNA v. Congrove
680 F.3d 1236 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
Blehm v. Jacobs
702 F.3d 1193 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
Marx v. General Revenue Corp.
133 S. Ct. 1166 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Klein-Becker USA, LLC v. Englert
711 F.3d 1153 (Tenth Circuit, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
DP Creations v. Adolly.com, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dp-creations-v-adollycom-utd-2024.