Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc. et al

Filing 223

Proposed Form of Verdict by Akanoc Solutions, Inc., Steven Chen, Managed Solutions Group, Inc. DEFENDANTS' PROPOSED VERDICT FORMS REGARDING STATUTORY DAMAGES (COPYRIGHT and TRADEMARK). (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Verdict Form)(Lowe, James) (Filed on 8/25/2009)

Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc. et al

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 AKANOC SOLUTIONS, INC., et al., Defendants. vs. LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER, S.A., Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: C 07-3952 JW (HRL) [PROPOSED] VERDICT FORM REGARDING STATUTORY DAMAGES (CONTRIBUTORY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CLAIM) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION

Dockets.Justia.com

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1.

Did any defendant contributorily infringe the Multicolor Monogram Black Print

copyrighted work? As to Managed Solutions Group, Inc.: As to Akanoc Solutions, Inc.: As to Steve Chen: Yes _____ Yes _____ Yes _____ No _____ No _____ No _____

If "no" for all three defendants, please sign and date this form. If yes as to one or more defendants, you must determine an appropriate award of statutory damages. Please answer the following additional questions: 2. Was the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print

copyrighted work innocent? Yes _____ No _____

If yes to Question 2, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $200 and $30,000) If no to Question 2, please answer the following question: 3. Was the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print

copyrighted work willful? Yes _____ No _____

If yes to Question 3, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $750 and $150,000) If no to Question 3, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $750 and $30,000)

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VERDICT FORM No. ______

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4.

Did any defendant contributorily infringe the Multicolor Monogram White Print

copyrighted work? As to Managed Solutions Group, Inc.: As to Akanoc Solutions, Inc.: As to Steve Chen: Yes _____ Yes _____ Yes _____ No _____ No _____ No _____

If "no" for all three defendants, please sign and date this form. If yes as to one or more defendants, you must determine an appropriate award of statutory damages. Please answer the following additional questions: 5. Was the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram White Print

copyrighted work innocent? (Please leave blank if not applicable) Yes _____ No _____

If yes to Question 5, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram White Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $200 and $30,000) If no to Question 5, please answer the following question: 6. Was the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram Black Print

copyrighted work willful? Yes _____ No _____

If yes to Question 6, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram White Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $750 and $150,000) If no to Question 6, please state the amount of statutory damages Louis Vuitton is entitled for the contributory infringement of the Multicolor Monogram White Print copyrighted work: $_____________ (Between $750 and $30,000)

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Date: ___________________ _______________________________ Jury Foreperson

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17 U.S.C. § 504(c) Statutory Damages.-(1) Except as provided by clause (2) of this subsection, the copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to any one work, for which any one infringer is liable individually, or for which any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally, in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court considers just. For the purposes of this subsection, all the parts of a compilation or derivative work constitute one work. (2) In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000. In a case where the infringer sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that such infringer was not aware and had no reason to believe that his or her acts constituted an infringement of copyright, the court in its discretion may reduce the award of statutory damages to a sum of not less than $200. Mason v. Montgomery Data, Inc., 967 F.2d 135, 143-144 (5th Cir. 1992) ("Under this section [504(c)(1) of the Copyright Act], the total number of "awards" of statutory that a plaintiff may recover in any given action depends on the number of [copyrighted] works that are infringed and the number of individual liable infringers, regardless of the number of infringements of those works.") McClatchey v. Associated Press, 2007 WL 1630261 (W.D.Pa. June 4, 2007) ("There is only one defendant and one work. McClatchey seeks multiple awards against AP, even though it did not name any other parties, by invoking the doctrine of joint and several liability. In other words, Plaintiff seeks to invoke joint and several liability to overcome the statutory limitation on damages whenever there is joint and several liability. This reasoning is counterintuitive and circular at best and is directly contrary to the actual statutory text, which explicitly limits plaintiff to a single award where "any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally." 17 U.S.C.A. § 504(c)(1). Thus, it is not necessary for the Court to reject the Nimmer hypothetical in all circumstances. Here, where the only Defendant is jointly and severally liable with all other alleged downstream infringers, Plaintiff is entitled to only a single statutory damages award.") A&M Records v. Abdallah, 948 F.Supp. 1449, 1457-58, (C.D.Cal.1996) ("The plaintiffs have provided a list of 156 different sound recordings that Mr. Abdallah's customers had counterfeited. . . . Mr. Abdallah was aware that each legitimate sound recording that his customers were counterfeiting had its own unique length . . . Given this inference, the Court finds that Mr. Abdallah knowingly contributed to the copyright infringement of at least 156 different works. . . . According to the evidence presented at trial, 156 separate instances of infringement is almost certainly a low estimate. These only represent the titles that were known to be copied by three of Mr. Abdallah's customers. . . . Accordingly, this Court awards statutory damages of $156,000 for 156 separate violations of the Copyright Act.") MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION, Fourth Edition, Ch. 30 Remedies for Infringement and Unfair Competition (March 2009) ("Under the Copyright Act, one does not multiply the minimum and maximum limits by the number of infringing copies. For infringement of a single copyrighted work by a single infringer, the statutory ceiling and floor 5
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dollar limits apply, no matter how many acts of infringement are involved in the lawsuit, and regardless of whether the acts were separate, isolated, or occurred in a related series.")

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VERDICT FORM No. ______