Minden Pictures, Inc. v. Buzzfeed, Inc.

390 F. Supp. 3d 461
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 21, 2019
Docket18 Civ. 2438 (DAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 390 F. Supp. 3d 461 (Minden Pictures, Inc. v. Buzzfeed, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minden Pictures, Inc. v. Buzzfeed, Inc., 390 F. Supp. 3d 461 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

DEBORAH A. BATTS, United States District Judge.

On March 19, 2018, Plaintiff Minden Pictures, Inc. ("Minden Pictures") filed suit against Defendants Buzzfeed, Inc. ("Buzzfeed") and Defendants Does 1 through 10 under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. On July 2, 2018, Buzzfeed filed a Motion to Dismiss.

On July 6, 2018, Minden Pictures filed an Amended Complaint. Buzzfeed filed a partial Motion to Dismiss and a Declaration in support on August 3, 2018, which Minden Pictures opposed. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Buzzfeed's partial Motion to Dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND

Minden Pictures, a wildlife and nature photo licensing agency, is a corporation organized under the laws of California. Buzzfeed is a digital media and news corporation organized under the laws of Delaware.

*465Minden Pictures is "informed and believes" that Defendant Does 1-10 are other parties not yet identified who have infringed its copyrights, have contributed to infringement, or have engaged in other wrongful practices. Am. Compl.

Plaintiff alleges that, by virtue of contractual assignments, it is the sole and exclusive agent for the licensing and use of certain nature photographs. Id. ¶ 8. These forty photographs were registered with the United States Copyright Office as shown in a chart attached to the Amended Complaint as Exhibit A. Id. ¶ 9. Defendants allegedly used the nature photographs without authorization for commercial purposes. Id. ¶ 10. Minden Pictures provides screen captures of Buzzfeed's website showing the alleged infringing acts in Exhibit B. Id. ¶ 12. Minden Pictures alleges that it discovered "each of the infringement claims asserted herein in 2017 and 2018." Id. ¶ 13. Discovery dates are included in the chart in Exhibit A.

Minden Pictures' first and only claim for relief is for copyright infringement (Count One). It alleges that Defendants used, distributed, and exploited images of the nature photographs without Minden Pictures' authorization or consent. Id. ¶ 16. Due to this infringement, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants obtained profits and that Plaintiff is entitled to disgorgement of those profits in an amount to be established at trial. Id. ¶ 18.

Buzzfeed argues in its Motion to Dismiss that of the forty photographs, twenty-four should be dismissed from this cause of action because (1) they are time-barred, (2) they are covered by the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") as material posted by third-party users of Buzzfeed, (3) they were not registered in a timely manner under the Copyright Act and are therefore ineligible for statutory damages and attorney's fees, and/or (4) they were registered as "photo collections" constituting compilations and therefore are considered as combined sets in a statutory damages calculation.

Buzzfeed provides screen captures of the dates of publication of each of the posts containing the photographs in a Declaration to support its argument that many of the alleged acts of infringement should be considered time-barred. Sholder Decl., Ex. 3. Screen captures of the posts that it argues were created by users and shielded from liability under the DMCA are also attached. Id., Ex. 2. A chart details when each photograph was posted by Buzzfeed. Id., Ex. 1. Buzzfeed also attaches a PACER print-out detailing all of the federal copyright infringement lawsuits filed by Minden Pictures, screen captures of the Copyright Office website showing the dates of publication of Minden Pictures' copyright applications as to photographs no. 7-11, 16, 20, 22, 26-27, and 29, screen captures of the posts' dates of original publication, and a screen capture of the entire post corresponding to photograph no. 23. Id., Exs. 4-7.

II. Discussion

A. Legal Standard for Motion to Dismiss

For a complaint to survive a motion brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the plaintiff must have pleaded "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The Supreme Court has explained,

A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.

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390 F. Supp. 3d 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minden-pictures-inc-v-buzzfeed-inc-ilsd-2019.