GC2 Incorporated v. International Game Technology PLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 1, 2019
Docket1:16-cv-08794
StatusUnknown

This text of GC2 Incorporated v. International Game Technology PLC (GC2 Incorporated v. International Game Technology PLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
GC2 Incorporated v. International Game Technology PLC, (N.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION GC2 INCORPORATED, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:16-cv-8794 ) INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY PLC, ) Judge Matthew F. Kennelly INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY, IGT ) DOUBLEDOWN INTERACTIVE LLC, MASQUE ) PUBLISHING, WD ENCORE SOFTWARE, DOE ) DEFENDANTS 1-100, DOE DEFENDANTS 101- ) 2,000,000, ) ) Defendants. ) DEFENDANTS’ RENEWED MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW ON COUNT XII (DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT)

Eric N. Macey (#3122684) emacey@novackmacey.com Joshua E. Liebman (#6283377) jliebman@novackmacey.com Christopher S. Moore (#6256418) cmoore@novackmacey.com Rebekah H. Parker (#6301907) rparker@novackmacey.com Brittney N. Cato (#6323715) bcato@novackmacey.com NOVACK AND MACEY LLP 100 North Riverside Plaza Chicago, IL 60606 (312) 419-6900 Defendants International Game Technology (“International Game Technology”), IGT (“IGT NV”), and DoubleDown Interactive LLC (“DoubleDown ”) (collectively, “Defendants”) by and through their attorneys, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a), respectfully submit this Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law on Plaintiff GC2 Incorporated’s (“GC2”) Claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) and GC2’s copyright infringement

claim against International Game Technology. INTRODUCTION

Count XII alleges that Defendants violated the DMCA by (1) providing or distributing false copyright management information (“CMI”); and (2) removing CMI from GC2’s copyrighted works and/or distributing the works with the CMI removed. Trial has made clear that both claims are based on the same images -- the “splash screen” or “loading screen” to Pharaoh’s Fortune (PX18, 21 & 22)1 and Coyote Moon (PX9, 13 & 14)2 of the games. GC2 claims that the splash screens are copied from the glass artwork for the land-based versions of the games, which contain GC2 artwork; that one of the Defendants removed the GC2 logo that had appeared on the land- based glass artwork when converting it to online; and that Defendants included false CMI in the splash screen attribution lines. (E.g., Vol. 1-A at 15:3-9 (GC2 opening).)3 GC2 has now had seven days to fully present its DMCA claims as to each Defendant. Yet, no reasonable jury could find -- based on the evidence adduced at trial -- that any Defendant violated the DMCA, or particular sections of the DMCA, for at least three independent reasons. First, there is not a sufficient evidentiary basis to find that any Defendant possessed the requisite

1 True and correct copies of the referenced exhibits are attached as Group Exhibit A. 2 True and correct copies of the referenced exhibits are attached as Group Exhibit B. 3 Relevant excerpts from Transcript Vol. 1-A are attached as Exhibit C. mens rea at the time of the alleged violations. Second, GC2 fails to state a claim for removal because it was IGT NV that designed the glass artwork, created original artwork for it, and affixed GC2’s logo to it in the first place. Third, at the very least, GC2 has not introduced any evidence that any Defendant distributed the allegedly removed CMI (as opposed to the allegedly copyrighted work).

ARGUMENT I. Legal Standard Judgment as a matter of law is appropriate when “a party has been fully heard on an issue . . . [and] a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for that party on that issue.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1). “In other words, the question is simply whether the evidence as a whole, when combined with all reasonable inferences permissibly drawn from that evidence, is sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to find in favor of the plaintiff. ‘[A] mere scintilla’ of evidence, however, will not suffice.” Hall v. Forest River, Inc., 536 F.3d 615, 619 (7th Cir. 2008) (citations omitted). II. No Rationale Jury Could Find That Any Of The Defendants Possessed The Requisite Mens Rea To Sustain Count XII (DMCA) There is no evidence that any Defendant possessed the requisite mens rea for liability under Sections 1202(a) or (b). Each subsection has a “double scienter requirement[.]” Krechmer v. Tantaros, 17 C 4061, 2018 WL 4044048, at *2 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2018) (summary order). Section 1202(a) requires that Plaintiff prove that the IGT Defendants and DoubleDown “knew that the CMI was false, and provided or distributed the false CMI with the intent to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement.” Aaberg v. Frencesca’s Collections, Inc., No. 17-cv-115,

2018 WL 1583037, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. March 27, 2018) (emphasis added). Similarly, Section 1202(b) requires that the IGT Defendants and DoubleDown intentionally removed the alleged CMI or distributed it knowing it had been removed and had knowledge, or reason to know, that it would induce, enable, facilitate or conceal an infringement. While Defendants dispute both of the double-intent prongs, this Motion concerns only the second -- which requires intent to “induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement” (with respect to 1202(a)), or knowing, or having reasonable grounds to know, that removal “will induce,

enable, facilitate or conceal infringement” (with respect to 1202(b)). In Stevens v. Corelogic, Inc., 899 F.3d 666, 675 (9th Cir. 2018), the Ninth Circuit closely examined the second intent prong: [T]he ‘induce, enable, facilitate or conceal’ requirement is intended to limit liability in some fashion -- specifically, to instances in which the defendant knows or has a reasonable basis to know that the removal or alteration of CMI or the distribution of works with CMI removed will aid infringement.

Id. (emphasis in original). GC2 “must make an affirmative showing . . . that the defendant was aware or had reasonable grounds to be aware of the probable future impact of its actions.” Id. at 674 (emphasis added). It has not done so. A. IGT NV GC2 accuses IGT NV of removing GC2’s CMI, replacing it with its own CMI, and distributing the works with the removed and/or false CMI to DoubleDown . (Ex. C [at 15:3-9.) GC2 failed to adduce any evidence whatsoever to show (i) who removed and falsified the CMI; (ii) when the unknown person(s) removed and falsified CMI; or (iii) when IGT NV distributed the allegedly copyrighted works with the removed and falsified CMI to DoubleDown . The evidence does show, however, that DoubleDown released Coyote Moon on the DoubleDown Casino in May 2013 and Pharaoh’s Fortune in March 2015. (Vol. 4-A (Sigrist Jan. 25, 2019 Testimony at 94:11- 22.)4 Thus, assuming that IGT NV did what GC2 accuses it of doing, then it did so before it

4 Relevant excerpts from Transcript Volume 4-A are attached hereto as Exhibit D. became aware of any issue arose as to whether IGT NV had the rights to use the Coyote Moon and Pharaoh’s Fortune artwork and graphics for interactive and social gaming use. The evidence at trial shows that, beginning in January 2016, employees of IGT NV expressed confusion as to whether IGT NV had the rights to use GC2 artwork and graphics in the online space. (E.g., PX 378, 380, 82, and 384).5 There is no evidence that IGT NV was aware of

any false or removed CMI with respect to the games Pharaoh’s Fortune and Coyote Moon at the time it created the interactive versions of the games, all of which were released in March 2015 or earlier.6 Accordingly, IGT NV could not have intended to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement, nor been aware that the probable impact of its conduct would lead to infringement. See, e.g., Schiffer Pub., Ltd. v. Chronicle Books, LLC, No.

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Bluebook (online)
GC2 Incorporated v. International Game Technology PLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gc2-incorporated-v-international-game-technology-plc-ilnd-2019.