Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia Worldwide v. Infomir LLC

Opinion

USDC SDNY DOCUMENT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT a. a SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK | DATE | JOINT STOCK COMPANY CHANNEL ONE RUSSIA WORLDWIDE, et al., 16-CV-1318 (GBD) (BCM) Plaintiffs, . ORDER -against- INFOMIR LLC, et al., Defendants.

BARBARA MOSES, United States Magistrate Judge. The Court has received and reviewed the application for attorneys’ fees filed on February 13, 2025 by plaintiff Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia Worldwide (Channel One) (Dkt. 1021). The motion seeks fees against defendant S.K. Management of New York (SKM), which filed a bankruptcy petition on March 24, 2022. See Pet. (Dkt. 1), S.K. Management of New York, Inc., 1:22-BK-40603-ESS (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Mar. 24, 2022) (SKM Bankruptcy Action). The SKM Bankruptcy Action remains pending. SKM's bankruptcy filing stayed this action as against SKM, pursuant to § 362(d)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, until August 15, 2022, when the Bankruptcy Judge presiding over the SKM Bankruptcy Action issued an order modifying the automatic stay for the limited purpose of allowing the District Judge in this action to: (1) consider this Court's March 9, 2022 Report and Recommendation (Dkt. 988) with respect to plaintiffs’ partial summary judgment motions; and (2) enter a judgment with respect to those motions. (See Dkt. 92 in the SKM Bankruptcy Action.) Accordingly, on December 18, 2024, the District Judge adopted the Report and Recommendation and entered judgment in favor of plaintiff Channel One and against SKM in the amount of $3,666,000. (Dkts. 1019, 1020.)

Although the Bankruptcy Judge modified the automatic stay for the specific purposes listed above, she did not lift the stay entirely, nor modify it for other purposes, such as the pending fee application. Consequently, all further proceedings with regard to the fee application are STAYED, subject to further order of the Bankruptcy Judge. Should Channel One seek another modification of the automatic stay for the purpose of pursuing its fee application, it must update the Bankruptcy Judge as to Channel One's status as a "specially designated" entity under Executive Order 14024, issued on April 15, 2021, which prohibits it from enforcing "any... judgment... purporting to transfer or otherwise alter or affect property or interests in property." 31 C.F.R. § 587.506(d); see Joint Stock Co. "Channel One Russia Worldwide" vy. Russian TV Co., 2024 WL 139507, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2024) (denying motion to stay entry of judgment to Channel One but noting that it could not be enforced until "Plaintiff is no longer subject to sanctions under E.O. 14024 or any party has obtained a specific license from OFAC authorizing Plaintiff's receipt of funds"). Should Channel One's status under E.O. 14024 change, Channel One must promptly advise this Court as well. Dated: New York, New York SO ORDERED. March 7, 2025

co i BARBARA MOSES United States Magistrate Judge