G & G Closed Circuit Events, LLC v. Barajas-Quijada

District Court, E.D. California·Decided February 11, 2020·No. 1:19-cv-01259·Unknown

Opinion

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11 G & G CLOSED CIRCUIT EVENTS, LLC, ) Case No.: 1:19-cv-01259 - AWI - JLT ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ORDER ADOPTING IN FULL THE FINDINGS ) AND RECOMMENDATIONS GRANTING IN 13 v. ) PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT ) JUDGMENT 14 RAMON A. BARAJAS-QUIJADA and ) GUSTAVO GARCIA, JR., individually and ) (Docs. 11, 14) 15 doing business as CULICHI SUSHI AND ) MARISCOS, ) 16 ) Defendants. ) 17 )

18 G & G Closed Circuit Events, LLC seeks the entry of default judgment against Ramon A. 19 Barajas-Quijada and Gustavo Garcia, Jr, individually and doing business as Culichi Sushi and Mariscos. 20 (Doc. 11) The magistrate judge recommended Plaintiff’s request for default judgment be granted in the 21 amount of $13,100.00. (Doc. 14) For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiff’s objections to the 22 recommendations are overruled, and the findings and recommendations of the magistrate judge are 23 adopted in full. 24 I. Background 25 G & G Closed Circuit Events, LLC asserts the company possessed the exclusive rights to the 26 nationwide commercial distribution of “Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v. Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin II 27 Championship Fight Program,” (“the Program”) televised on September 15, 2018. (Doc. 1 at 5, ¶ 20) 28 However, Plaintiff contends Defendants broadcast the Program at Culichi Sushi and Mariscos without 1 paying the requisite fee. (Id., ¶¶ 16-17) Defendants were served with the summons and complaint 2 filed on September 10, 2019 (Docs. 6-7) but failed to respond within the time prescribed by the 3 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Default was entered on October 30, 2019. (Docs. 8-9) 4 On December 6, 2019, Plaintiff filed a second motion for default judgment, which is now 5 pending before the court. (Doc. 11) 6 II. Findings and Recommendations 7 A. Eitel Factors 8 The magistrate judge reviewed the factors set forth by the Ninth Circuit in Eitel v. McCool, 782 9 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 1986), to determine whether the request for default judgment should be 10 granted. (Doc. 14 at 3-7) In particular, the magistrate judge found the plaintiff would be prejudiced if 11 default judgment was not granted. (Id. at 3, citing Pepsico, Inc. v. Cal. Sec. Cans, 238 F.Supp.2d 1172, 12 1174 (C.D. Cal 2002)) In addition, she found the merits of the plaintiff’s claims and the sufficiency of 13 the complaint weighed in favor of the entry of default judgment, because the facts supported a claim for 14 conversion and a violation of the Communications Act. (Id. at 3-5) Likewise, the magistrate judge 15 found there was “little possibility of dispute concerning material facts,” and the defendants’ conduct 16 did not weigh against the entry of default judgment. (Id. at 6-7) 17 Though the sum of the money requested could weigh against default judgment, the magistrate 18 judge observed that “the statutes involved contemplate such an award under certain circumstances,” 19 and authorize awards up to $110,000.” (Doc. 14 at 6, citing G & G Closed Events, LLC v. Shahen, 20 2012 WL 1455087, at *6 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 26, 2012). Therefore, this factor did not weigh against 21 Plaintiff’s request for default judgment. (Id.) Finally, the magistrate judge determined that “[t]he 22 policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on the merits does not weigh 23 against default judgment because Defendants’ failure to appear before the Court and defend in this 24 action makes a decision on the merits impractical.” (Id. at 6-7) 25 B. Damages 26 Having determined the Eitel factors weighed in favor of the entry of default judgment, the 27 magistrate judge evaluated the requested damages. (Doc. 14 at 7-9) The magistrate judge noted: 28 Hector Cardenas, Plaintiff’s investigator, attached an advertisement for the Program 1 broadcast Culichi Sushi and Mariscos, which stated: Join us this Saturday for Canelo vs. GGG2 fight. $10 event charge. Live music, Mexican party after the fight to 2 celebrate Mexican Independence Day!!!” (Doc. 11-3 at 4) Mr. Cardenas indicated he paid the $10 to enter, and observed five televisions that ranged in size from 32 inches to 3 50 inches. (Id. at 2) He stated that he observed the fight, but did not clarify if the fight was on one television or all five. (See id.) Mr. Cardenas estimated the capacity of the 4 restaurant was 100 people, and he counted the number of patrons three times, finding 54, 56, and 58 people were present. (Id.) 5 6 (Doc. 14 at 7) Having reviewed these factors, the magistrate judge round an award of $5,600, or twice 7 the cost of a proper sublicense, was appropriate. (Id.) 8 The magistrate judge noted this Court has awarded enhanced damages “where the defendant 9 imposes a cover charge or fee.” (Doc. 14 at 8-9, citing, e.g., J & J Sports Prods., Inc. v. Mendoza, 2015 10 WL 5009000, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 20, 2015); see also Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. v. Burleson, 2011 11 WL 4905631, at *5 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 14, 2011)) Because the evidence submitted established that 12 “Defendants both advertised the fight at Culichi Sushi and Mariscos and a $10 cover charge was 13 required,” the magistrate judge recommended enhanced damages in the amount of $7,500 be awarded. 14 (Id. at 9, emphasis in original) 15 Finally, the magistrate judge found that “because Plaintiff elected to receive statutory damages 16 rather than actual damages under the Communications Act, damages for conversion are subsumed into 17 the total award of $13,100.” (Doc. 14 at 9). Thus, the magistrate judge also recommended additional 18 damages for conversion be denied. (Id.) 19 III. Plaintiff’s Objections 20 Plaintiff was given fourteen days to file any objections to the recommendations. (Doc. 14 at 10- 21 11) In addition, the plaintiff was “advised that failure to file objections within the specified time may 22 waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. (Id. at 11, citing Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 23 (9th Cir. 1991); Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 834 (9th Cir. 2014)). On January 21, 2020, 24 Plaintiff filed timely objections. (Doc 15) 25 Plaintiff objects to the amount of damages recommended by the magistrate judge. (See Doc. 15 26 at 1-2) According to Plaintiff, the statutory damages award of $5,600 “does not sufficiently 27 compensate Plaintiff,” and argues that the magistrate judge should have applied a greater multiplier to 28 the cost of a sublicense. (Id. at 1, 3) In addition, Plaintiff asserts the amount of enhanced damages 1 does not “properly address the severity of Defendants’ violation,” asserting the magistrate judge erred 2 in making inferences in favor of Defendants rather than Plaintiff in analyzing the evidence presented 3 related to the advertisement and cover charge. (Id. at 2, 4) Finally, Plaintiff requests $2,800 be awarded 4 for conversion—“the amount Defendant would have had to pay to broadcast the Program lawfully”— 5 arguing the election to receive statutory damages does not impact the availability of damages for other 6 violations. (Id. at 7-8) Therefore, Plaintiff requests that the Court now award $8,400 in statutory 7 damages; $25,200 in enhanced statutory damages; and $2,800 in conversion damages. (Id. at 8) 8 IV. Discussion and Analysis 9 A district judge may “accept, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and 10 recommendations . . .” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

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