Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe

Filing 27

ORDER granting 26 Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration of Order. The Court awards Plaintiff Malibu Media, LLC $35,250.00 in statutory damages pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504 rather than $6,000. All other portions of the default judgment shall remain the same. 25 . The Clerk is directed to amend the judgment accordingly. Signed by Judge Sheri Polster Chappell on 6/2/2015. (LMF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
MALIBU MEDIA, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:14-cv-511-FtM-38CM

MARK DANFORD,
Defendant.
/
ORDER1
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration of
Order (Doc. #26) filed on May 26, 2015.
Standard
Reconsideration of a court’s previous order is an extraordinary remedy, and thus,
is a power that should be used sparingly. Carter v. Premier Rest. Mgmt., No. 2:06-CV212-FTM-99DNF, 2006 WL 2620302, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 13, 2006) (citing Am. Ass’n
of People with Disabilities v. Hood, 278 F. Supp. 2d 1337, 1339 (M.D. Fla. 2003)). The
courts have “delineated three major grounds justifying reconsideration: (1) an intervening
change in the controlling law; (2) the availability of new evidence; (3) the need to correct
clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” Susman v. Salem, Saxon & Meilson, P.A., 153
F.R.D. 689, 904 (M.D. Fla. 1994).

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Discussion
On May 12, 2015, the Court issued an order entering default judgment against
Defendant Mark Danford and awarding statutory damages in the amount of $6,000.00.
(Doc. #24). Plaintiff Malibu Media argues reconsideration of this order is proper to prevent
manifest injustice because the Court misapplied the record facts to the controlling law.
That is, since Malibu Media alleged Danford infringed 47 works, a statutory damage
award of $6,000 is too low. (See Doc. #1; Doc. #1-2). Malibu Media contends the Court
must enter an award between $35,250.00 and $7,050,000.00. Upon consideration, the
court agrees. See Arista Records, Inc. v. Beker Enters., Inc., 298 F.Supp.2d 1310, at
1312 (S.D. Fla. 2003) (explaining copyright owner is entitled to statutory damages per
infringed work); Elektra Entm’t Group, Inc. v. Carter, 618 F.Supp.2d 89, 94 (D.Me. 2009)
(granting $750.00 of statutory damages per work).
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration of Order (Doc. #26) is GRANTED. The Court
awards Plaintiff Malibu Media, LLC $35,250.00 in statutory damages pursuant to 17
U.S.C. § 504 rather than $6,000. All other portions of the default judgment shall remain
the same. (Doc. #25). The Clerk is directed to amend the judgment accordingly.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 2nd day of June, 2015.

Copies: All Parties of Record

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