Evony, LLC v. Aeria Games & Entertainment Inc et al

Filing 97

ORDER re Additional Billing Records; terminating 93 Administrative Motion to File Under Seal Declaration of Steven M. Cowley In Support of Plaintiff Evony, LLC's Motion For Default Judgment Against Defendant Feng Investment, Ltd. with Exhibit A to be filed Under Seal filed by Evony, LLC. Signed by Judge Kandis A. Westmore on 2/12/2014. (kawlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/12/2014)

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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EVONY, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
AERIA GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT, and
FENG INVESTMENT, LTD.,

Case No.: CV 11-00141-SBA (KAW)
ORDER REQUIRING ADDITIONAL
BILLING RECORDS; TERMINATING
MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL

Defendants.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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On December 20, 2013, Plaintiff Evony, LLC filed a motion for default judgment against

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Feng Investment, Ltd. for violations of the Copyright Act. The motion was referred to the

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undersigned for report and recommendation. (Dkt. No. 95.) In support of its request for

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attorneys’ fees, Plaintiff provided numerous invoices and billing records sought to be filed under

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seal. (See Decl. of Steven M. Cowley, Dkt. No. 93.) A cursory review of this submission shows

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duplicative billing entries across various invoices, making it too onerous for the Court to review

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for reasonableness. In addition, a substantial number of entries concerned Feng Investment’s co-

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defendant Aeria Games, with whom Plaintiff settled in May 2013. Compensation for those legal

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services is not necessarily recoverable against Feng Investment. It is also unclear which costs

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(“disbursements”) pertain to which defendant. Plaintiff also does not provide a statement of the

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services rendered by each attorney or paralegal, including a summary of the number of hours

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spent on Feng Investments. See Civil L.R. 54-5(b).

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Plaintiff is ordered, therefore, to resubmit its supporting declaration and billing records in

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support of its request for attorneys’ fees and costs. Should Plaintiff seek to file the forthcoming

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declaration and supporting documents under seal, Plaintiff is directed to Civil Local Rule 79-5(d)

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and General Order No. 62. As a practical matter, billing records are generally not sealed in

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whole, but may be sealed in part, to protect privileged communications contained in the notations.

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See Civil L.R. 79-5(d) (procedure for filing under seal). The amount and time billed is not

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privileged nor are general billing descriptions that contain no privileged communications.

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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion to file under seal is TERMINATED as moot, and the

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Court will not review the accompanying invoices and billing statements in consideration of

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Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. If Plaintiff still wants to recover attorneys’ fees and

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costs, it shall file complete and non-duplicative billing statements concerning those billing entries

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attributed to Feng Investments, accompanied by a declaration and a statement of the services

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rendered as required by Civil Local Rule 54-5(b), on or before February 18, 2014.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February 12, 2014

___________________________
KANDIS A. WESTMORE
United States Magistrate Judge

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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