Goatpix, LLC v. The Upper Deck Company

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJuly 19, 2022
Docket3:21-cv-01815
StatusUnknown

This text of Goatpix, LLC v. The Upper Deck Company (Goatpix, LLC v. The Upper Deck Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goatpix, LLC v. The Upper Deck Company, (S.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GOATPIX LLC, a Nevada limited Case No.: 21-CV-1815 TWR (JLB) liability company, 12 ORDER (1) GRANTING Plaintiff, 13 DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO v. DISMISS, AND (2) DISMISSING 14 WITHOUT PREJUDICE THE UPPER DECK COMPANY, a 15 PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR Nevada corporation authorized to do STATUTORY DAMAGES AND 16 business in California; and DOES 1 ATTORNEYS’ FEES through 10, inclusive, 17 Defendants. (ECF No. 13) 18 19 20 Presently before the Court is Defendant The Upper Deck Company’s (“UDC”) 21 Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiff’s First 22 Amended Complaint (“FAC,” ECF No. 12). (“Mot.,” ECF No. 13). In addition, Plaintiff 23 Goatpix LLC (“Goatpix”) has filed an Opposition to (“Opp’n,” ECF No. 18) and UDC a 24 Reply in support of (“Reply,” ECF No. 22) the Motion. The Court heard oral argument on 25 May 19, 2022. Having carefully reviewed the parties’ arguments, the First Amended 26 Complaint, and the law, the Court GRANTS UDC’s Motion and DISMISSES 27 WITHOUT PREJUDICE Goatpix’s request for statutory damages and attorneys’ fees. 28 / / / 1 BACKGROUND 2 Goatpix initiated this action against UDC based on alleged copyright infringement 3 of a photograph of Michael Jordan taken by the Chicago Bulls basketball team’s 4 photographer, Bill Smith, during the 1988 All Star NBA Slam Dunk Contest (hereinafter, 5 the “Work”). The first publication of the Work occurred on March 8, 1998. (See generally 6 FAC.) 7 On July 1, 2005, Smith entered into an agreement with the Chicago Bulls confirming 8 his ownership of all copyrights in the Work. (See id. ¶¶ 9–10, Exh. A.) The agreement 9 between Smith and the Chicago Bulls also confirmed Smith’s “rights to use and permit 10 others to use the [Work] in any fashion, including selling images . . . .” (See id., Exh. A at 11 3(d).) On March 31, 2021, Smith entered into an agreement with Dwight Manley, Inc. 12 (“DWI”), in which DWI acquired all of Smith’s copyrights in the Work. (See id. ¶ 11, Exh. 13 B at 1.1.) DWI subsequently assigned the copyrights in the Work to Goatpix on June 14, 14 2021. (See id. ¶ 12, Exh. C.) As a result, Goatpix is the current owner of the copyrights in 15 the Work. (See Opp’n at 3.) 16 On or about June 11, 2021, Goatpix filed a copyright claim for the Work with the 17 United States Copyright Office (“USCO”). (See FAC ¶ 15, Exh. E.) The USCO issued a 18 “Certificate of Registration” for the Work on July 2, 2021, with an effective date of 19 June 11, 2021. (See id., Exh. E.) 20 On or about June 10, 2021, counsel for Goatpix began communicating with UDC 21 regarding UDC’s sale of the Work. (See id. ¶¶ 25–26, Exh. G.) After several email 22 exchanges, Goatpix concluded that UDC did not have a license to use the Work, and, on 23 July 22, 2021, Goatpix sent a letter to UDC asking the company to cease and desist from 24 selling the Work. (See id., Exh. G at 68–78.) In its letter, Goatpix expressed its 25 understanding that UDC had been infringing on the Work for “many years.” (See id., Exh. 26 G, at 68.) As examples of the infringement, the First Amended Complaint attached 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 screenshots taken from Defendant’s website on August 4, 2021, selling Plaintiff’s protected 2 work.1 (See id. ¶ 25, Exh. F.) 3 In its First Amended Complaint, Goatpix asserts a single claim for copyright 4 infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501. (See FAC ¶ 35–44.) Goatpix alleges, among other 5 things, that “Defendants have willfully and deliberately infringed on Goatpix’s copyrights 6 in the [Work] by copying and distributing [the Work].” (See FAC ¶ 39.) UDC does not 7 dispute that Goatpix has adequately stated a valid claim for copyright infringement. (See 8 generally Mot.) Rather, by its motion, UDC seeks to strike (or dismiss) Goatpix’s demand 9 for attorneys’ fees and statutory damages on the grounds that both remedies are 10 impermissible under copyright law. (See Motion at 7.) The principal question before the 11 Court, therefore, is whether Goatpix is barred from seeking attorneys’ fees and statutory 12 damages. 13 LEGAL STANDARD 14 I. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e) 15 Rule 12(e) provides that a party may move for a more definite statement but only 16 when a pleading “is so vague or ambiguous that a party cannot reasonably be required to 17 frame a responsive pleading.” A motion for a more definite statement pursuant to Rule 18 12(e) “attacks the unintelligibility of the complaint, not simply the mere lack of detail, and 19 is only proper when a party is unable to determine how to frame a response to the issues 20 raised.” Neveu v. City of Fresno, 392 F. Supp. 2d 1159, 1169 (E.D. Cal. 2005). In 21 consequence of the stringent standard, motions for a more definite statement are 22 “disfavored and rarely granted.” Griffin v. Cedar Fair, L.P., 817 F. Supp. 2d 1152, 1156 23 (N.D. Cal. 2011). 24 / / / 25 26 27 1 Goatpix concedes that some form of copyright infringement occurred prior to the Work’s copyright registration. (See Opp’n at 1.) Goatpix’s First Amended Complaint alleges both copyright infringement 28 1 II. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) 2 “A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to 3 state a claim upon which relief can be granted ‘tests the legal sufficiency of a claim.’” 4 Conservation Force v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241–42 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting Navarro 5 v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir. 2001)). “A district court’s dismissal for failure to 6 state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is proper if there is a ‘lack of 7 a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal 8 theory.’” Id. at 1242 (quoting Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th 9 Cir. 1988)). The Ninth Circuit applies Rule 12(b)(6) to address legally deficient claims for 10 damages at a pleadings stage. Whittlestone, 618 F.3d at 974; see also, e.g., Powell v. Wells 11 Fargo Home Mortg., No. 14-CV-04248-MEJ, 2017 WL 2720182, at *7 (N.D. Cal. June 23, 12 2017), aff’d, 855 F. App’x. 382 (9th Cir. 2021) (“The Court therefore construes 13 [defendant’s] Motion to Strike as a motion to dismiss . . . . Because the UCL only permits 14 restitution or injunctive relief, the Court dismisses any claim for exemplary or punitive 15 damages.”) 16 “Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a pleading must contain a ‘short and 17 plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’” Ashcroft v. 18 Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677–78 (2009) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)).

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Goatpix, LLC v. The Upper Deck Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goatpix-llc-v-the-upper-deck-company-casd-2022.