Yellowpages Photos, Inc. v. YP, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJune 19, 2020
Docket8:17-cv-00764
StatusUnknown

This text of Yellowpages Photos, Inc. v. YP, LLC (Yellowpages Photos, Inc. v. YP, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yellowpages Photos, Inc. v. YP, LLC, (M.D. Fla. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

YELLOWPAGES PHOTOS, INC.,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 8:17-cv-764-T-36JSS

YP, LLC and PRINT MEDIA LLC,

Defendants. ___________________________________/ ORDER This matter comes before the Court upon Defendant Print Media LLC’s Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 220), Plaintiff’s response thereto (Doc. 228), and Defendant’s reply (Doc. 231). In the motion, Defendant argues that only ten of Plaintiff’s copyrighted images remain in dispute following the Court’s Order on Defendants YP LLC and Print Media LLC’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 196). Doc. 220 at 2. Defendant contends that these images were encompassed by the License Agreement between L.M. Berry and Company and Plaintiff (“Berry License”), which authorizes use of an image in renewal, republication, and reprint of an advertisement. Id. at 2-3. Defendant further argues that all disputed advertisements containing Plaintiff’s copyrighted images were renewals, republications, or reprints of authorized advertisements and that, because of this, it is entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim. Id. at 3. Plaintiff responds that a disputed issue of material fact exists as to whether the images were originally used in advertisements under the Berry License, and whether alterations to the advertisements prevent Defendant’s use from qualifying as renewals, republications, or reprints. Doc. 228. The Court, having considered the motion and being fully advised in the premises, will grant Defendant’s Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment. I. FACTS1 A. Background This is the second time that this case is before the Court on a Motion for Summary Judgment. The facts of this case are set forth in detail in the Court’s prior Order and will not be

repeated at length here. Doc. 196. This Order is limited to the pertinent facts required for resolution of this Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment. The only remaining issue is Plaintiff Yellow Pages Photos, Inc.’s (“YPPI”) claim that Defendant Print Media LLC (“Print Media”) infringed on ten of YPPI’s copyrighted stock images. Doc. 211 at 2. B. Undisputed Facts 1. The Berry License YPPI, which is owned and operated by William Trent Moore, owns the copyrights to various images. Doc. 143 ¶¶ 1, 3. YPPI is in the business of licensing images to publishers of yellow pages directories. Id. ¶ 3. In conducting its business, in June 2006, YPPI entered into The Berry License with L.M. Berry and Company (“Berry”). Doc. 157-2. The Berry License states

that “Licensor [YPPI], in consideration of the one-time payment by Berry of $32,435.00, grants Berry a one-year license, from the date this Agreement was duly executed, for the use of Licensor products and services pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth herein.” Id. at 2. The Berry License provides that the “[l]icensee,” which is defined as Berry “and all affiliates owned or owning same,” Has the non-exclusive right to copy, crop, manipulate, modify, alter, reproduce, create derivative works of, transmit, and display the Digital Media an unlimited number of times in any and all media for any purpose, including, but not limited to

• Yellow-pages directories (including print and electronic directories);

1 The Court has determined the facts, which are undisputed unless otherwise noted, based on the parties’ submissions, including declarations, and exhibits. Docs. 220-222, 228-231. • Advertising and promotional materials; • Online- or electronic-distribution systems, including web-page design; • Broadcast and theatrical exhibitions; and • Publications and products.

Id. at 2. These “rights to the Digital Media and to use the Digital media as specified in th[e] Agreement are worldwide and perpetual.” Id. The Berry License contains a provision that governs termination and revocation of the agreement. Doc. 157-2 at 4. The agreement states, in pertinent part, that: Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to affect that Digital Media used in end-client’s applications (such as directory advertisements) prior to the termination of this Agreement; by way of example, should Digital Media be used in an end- client’s directory advertisement prior to the termination of this Agreement, the Digital Media used in the original advertisement may continue to be used in renewals, republications or reprints of the advertisement.

Id. This is the provision pursuant to which Print Media contends it could print the disputed images. Doc. 220 at 4, 6, 8-9. 2. Print Media’s Predecessors The Berry License was entered into in 2006 between YPPI and Berry. In 2008, The Berry Company LLC (“Berry Company”) acquired assets of Berry and the Berry License was included in the transaction. Doc. 220-2 at 2. Berry Company contacted YPPI to obtain its consent to the Berry License “being transferred and assigned to” Berry Company. Id. YPPI, through Moore, granted consent to the transfer and assignment. Id. Berry Company was owned, through various subsidiaries and transactions, by YP, LLC (“YP”), which was authorized to use YPPI’s images pursuant to the Berry License. Doc. 196 at 18-21. Between late 2014 and June 2015, YP published “The Real Yellow Pages.” Doc. 222 ¶ 7. Print Media took the publishing functions of “The Real Yellow Pages” over from YP in June 2015. Id. ¶ 8. 3. The Images The parties’ dispute concerns ten images. The first image is a dinner plate with barbeque foods on it, titled “BBQ-A0120 Food 4.” Doc. 228-1 at 4. This image will be referred to as the “BBQ Image”.

The second image is of a gold or tan vehicle resembling a sedan and is titled “CRA-A0110 CRASH.” Doc. 228-3 at 5. This image will be referred to as the “Gold Vehicle Crash Image.” The third image is of a black vehicle resembling a sports utility vehicle and is titled “CRA- A0117 CRASH.” Doc. 228-5 at 5. This image will be referred to as the “Black Vehicle Crash Image.” The fourth, fifth, and sixth images all appear in the same advertisement. The fourth image is of a gutter and is titled “GUT-A0116 GUTTERS.” Doc. 220-4 at 38. This image will be referred to as the “Gutter Image.” The fifth image is of siding for a house and is titled “SID-A0112 SIDING.” Id. This image will be referred to as the “Siding Image.” The sixth image is also of siding, is titled “SID-A0102 SIDING,” and will be referred to as the “Second Siding Image.” Id.

Collectively, these will be referred to as the “Gutter and Siding Images.” The seventh image is of a home and is titled “HOM-C0146 HOMES 3.” Doc. 220-5 at 4. This image will be referred to as the “Home Image.” The eighth image is of a larger home and is titled “HOM-D0120 HOMES 4.” Doc. 220-6 at 5. This image will be referred to as the “Second Home Image.” The ninth image is of a screen enclosure outside of a home and is titled “SCE-A0141 SCREEN ENCLOSURES.” Id. at 34. This image will be referred to as the “Screen Image.” The tenth image is of a tree stump and is titled “TRE-A0180E TREE SERVICE.” Id. at 45. This image will be referred to as the “Tree Image.” C. Disputed Facts With the exception of the Screen Image, YPPI disputes that the above-referenced images were published in advertisements by YP before Print Media took over the publishing functions of “The Real Yellow Pages” from YP in June 2015. Doc. 228 at 6-9, 11, 13, 16, 18. With respect to

the BBQ Image, YPPI points to the cover of the directory containing the purported YP advertisement, which states “February 2015-2016.” Doc. 220-4 at 3. Because this timeframe is inclusive of dates for which Print Media was the publisher, YPPI claims there is a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the advertisement containing the BBQ Image was actually published by YP. Doc. 228 at 6-7. Other images similarly have cover pages that include dates after June 2015.

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Yellowpages Photos, Inc. v. YP, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yellowpages-photos-inc-v-yp-llc-flmd-2020.