Microsoft Corp. v. Tierra Computer, Inc.

184 F. Supp. 2d 1329, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23554, 2001 WL 1720271
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedAugust 16, 2001
Docket1:99-cv-01997
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 184 F. Supp. 2d 1329 (Microsoft Corp. v. Tierra Computer, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Microsoft Corp. v. Tierra Computer, Inc., 184 F. Supp. 2d 1329, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23554, 2001 WL 1720271 (N.D. Ga. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

THRASH, District Judge.

This is a copyright and trademark infringement action. It is before the Court for an assessment of damages for Defendants’ violation of the injunction previously entered in this action. For the reasons set forth below, the Court awards the Plaintiff $1,450,000.00 in statutory damages for copyright and trademark infringement.

/. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation is a Washington corporation with its principal place of business in Redmond, Washington. It is in the business of developing, promoting, advertising, marketing, distributing and licensing software for computers. Defendant Tierra Computer, Inc. is a Georgia Corporation whose principal shareholder is Defendant Shaofang Qian. On August 3, 1999, Plaintiff Microsoft filed a Complaint against Defendants Tier-ra Corp. and Qian alleging violations of the Copyright Act, the Lanham Act, the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and unfair competition. The Complaint alleged that the Defendants were selling counterfeit Microsoft software and infringing Microsoft trademarks. The Complaint sought the imposition of a constructive trust and an accounting against both Defendants. After the Plaintiff had filed a motion for summary judgment with this Court, but before the Court’s ruling, the parties stipulated to a permanent injunction against Defendants Tierra Corp. and Shaofang Qian. The injunction was entered on April 27, 2000. The injunction, among other things, prohibited the Defendants from infringing registered trademarks owned by Plaintiff through the distribution of software programs, components, end user license agreements or other items protected by Microsoft’s registered trademarks and service marks or copyrights. On the same day, the parties also stipulated to the dismissal with prejudice of the original Complaint.

The case did not end there. On October 27, 2000, Plaintiff filed an application for an order to show cause regarding civil contempt and attorneys’ fees and costs. Plaintiff alleged that Defendants continued to distribute Plaintiffs software in violation of the permanent injunction entered by this Court six months earlier. This Court granted Plaintiffs motion for order to show cause and motion for award of attorneys’ fees and costs. Defendants were ordered to appear for a show cause hearing on January 12, 2001. Defendants did not file any opposition to Plaintiffs contempt motion, nor did they contest the validity of the trademark and copyright registrations attached to the Notice of Lodging. At the January 12 hearing, Plaintiff presented testimony from the United States Customs Service Special Agent Wayne Jones regarding the raid at Defendants’ business on June 7, 2000 and the software seized in that raid. Plaintiff also presented the testimony of Tamara Sellars, a Microsoft employee who specialized in the identification of counterfeit software, who testified, generally, that she had examined the seized software and that it was counterfeit and infringing. Defendants presented no witnesses. At the con- *1331 elusion of the hearing, the Court found Defendants in civil contempt for violation of the injunction. The Court took the issue of damages under advisement and allowed the parties to brief the issue. The amount of damages is the subject of the present Order.

II. DISCUSSION

Plaintiff seeks to recover statutory damages under both the Copyright Act and Lanham Acts. Courts have wide discretion in awarding statutory damages. Chi-Boy Music v. Charlie Club, Inc., 930 F.2d 1224, 1229 (7th Cir.1991); Microsoft Corp. v. Compusource Distributors, Inc., 115 F.Supp.2d 800, 811 (E.D.Mi.2000). Although not addressed by either party, some courts have held that awards under both the Copyright Act and the Lanham Act can constitute a double recovery. Manufacturers Technologies, Inc. v. Cams Inc., 728 F.Supp. 75, 85 (D.Conn.1989); Murray v. Shaw Industries, Inc., 990 F.Supp. 46, 47 (D.Mass.1997) (awards of damages for copyright infringement and violation of Lanham Act provided plaintiff with impermissible double recovery). The Ninth Circuit acknowledged the possibility, but held instead that a recovery of statutory damages under one act and actual damages under the other was permissible. Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Dragon Pacific Int'l, 40 F.3d 1007, 1011 n. 1 (9th Cir.1994) (awarding statutory damages under the Copyright Act and actual damages under the Lanham Act). This Court holds that the Plaintiffs request for statutory damages under both acts is not an impermissible “double recovery.” As explained by the Ninth Circuit, Defendants did not commit only one wrongful act. Had Defendants sold Plaintiffs computer programs without representing that they were Microsoft products, Defendants would have committed only copyright infringement. If Defendants had represented that the computer programs were Microsoft’s, when in fact they were not, then Defendants violated the Lanham Act. While there was one act, there were two wrongs. Nintendo, 40 F.3d at 1010-11. “Insofar as the Lanham Act and Copyright Act provide separate remedies for distinct injuries, Microsoft may seek damages under each act.” Compusource Distributors, 115 F.Supp.2d at 811. Other district courts have awarded Microsoft statutory damages under both acts. Compusource Distributors, 115 F.Supp.2d at 812 (awarding Microsoft $50,000 for each of its eight trademarks at issue and $15,000 for each of its nine copyrights at issue); Microsoft Corp. v. Logical Choice Computers, Inc., 2001 WL 58950 *11 (N.D.Ill. Jan. 22, 2001) (awarding $200,000 for each of seven trademarks infringed and $20,000 for each of seven copyrights, for a total of $1,540,000). Statutory damages may be sought when actual damages would be difficult to calculate or to penalize the infringer and deter future violations. Chi-Boy Music v. Charlie Club, Inc., 930 F.2d 1224, 1228-29 (7th Cir.1991); Frank Music Corp. v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 886 F.2d 1545, 1554 (9th Cir.1989); Cable/Home Communication Corp. v. Network Prods., Inc., 902 F.2d 829, 851 (11th Cir.1990). Because statutory damages serve purposes in addition to compensation, and the Defendants committed two separate acts, Plaintiffs request for statutory damages for trademark and copyright infringement does not violate the rule against double recoveries. The Court awards Plaintiff the damages it requested as outlined below.

A. COPYRIGHT DAMAGES

Plaintiff seeks to recover statutory damages for non-willfal infringement under the Copyright Act. The Act, 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), provides:

[E]xcept as provided by clause (2) of this subsection, the copyright owner may

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

Related

Tracfone Wireless, Inc. v. GCA Electronics, LLC
950 F. Supp. 2d 1326 (N.D. Georgia, 2013)
Microsoft Corp. v. Nop
549 F. Supp. 2d 1233 (E.D. California, 2008)
Microsoft Corp. v. Sellers
411 F. Supp. 2d 913 (E.D. Tennessee, 2006)
PetMed Express, Inc. v. MedPets.Com, Inc.
336 F. Supp. 2d 1213 (S.D. Florida, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
184 F. Supp. 2d 1329, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23554, 2001 WL 1720271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/microsoft-corp-v-tierra-computer-inc-gand-2001.