ME2 Productions, Inc. v. Does 1 through 20

Filing 48

ORDER Modifying And Adopting Findings and Recommendation To Grant In Part And Deny In Part Motion For Default Judgment Against Defendant Travis Pagaduan. "Given the dismissal of LHF Productions' claims against Pagaduan, the court mo difies the F&R by removing any award in favor of LHF Productions, including any attorney's fee award. With that modification, the court adopts the remainder of the F&R, ruling as follows: First, default judgment is granted against Pagadu an and in favor of Plaintiffs ME2 and Venice.Second, Pagaduan is ordered to delete or destroy any and all illegal copies of Mechanic: Resurrection and Once Upon a Time in Venice that he has in his possession or that he has control over.Third, Pagaduan is permanently enjoined from downloading or offering to others Mechanic: Resurrection and/or Once Upon a Time in Venice via BitTorrent or in any other manner infringing on ME2's or Venice's respective copyrights.Fo urth, statutory damages of $750 each are awarded to ME2 and Venice, for a total statutory damages award of $1,500.Fifth, attorney's fees of $527.50 (2.11 hours at $250 per hour) are awarded to ME2 and Venice. Sixth, the court awards costs of the recommended F&R of $270. Because all claims against all parties have now been adjudicated, the court directs the Clerk of Court to enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs ME2 and Venice and against Defe ndant Pagaduan and to close this case."Signed by JUDGE SUSAN OKI MOLLWAY on 2/27/18. (cib, )CERTIFICATE OF SERVICEParticipants registered to receive electronic notifications received this document electronically at the e-mail address listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF). Participants not registered to receive electronic notifications were served by first class mail on the date of this docket entry

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII
ME2 PRODUCTIONS, INC.;
VENICE PI, LLC;
LHF PRODUCTIONS, INC.,

)
)
)
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Plaintiffs
)
)
vs.
)
)
TRAVIS PAGADUAN,
)
)
Defendant,
)
)
_____________________________ )

CIVIL NO. 17-000130 SOM/KJM
ORDER MODIFYING AND ADOPTING
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION
TO GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN
PART MOTION FOR DEFAULT
JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANT
TRAVIS PAGADUAN

ORDER MODIFYING AND ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION
TO GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART MOTION FOR
DEFAULT JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANT TRAVIS PAGADUAN
I.

INTRODUCTION.
This is a copyright infringement action brought by

three separate plaintiffs against Defendant Travis Pagaduan for
infringing conduct with respect to three different movies.
Plaintiff ME2 Productions, Inc., alleges that Pagaduan pirated
“Mechanic: Resurrection” via BitTorrent.

Plaintiff Venice PI,

LLC, alleges that Pagaduan pirated “Once Upon a Time in Venice”
via BitTorrent.

LHF Productions, Inc., alleges that Pagaduan

pirated “London Has Fallen” via BitTorrent.
Default has been entered against Pagaduan, and
Plaintiffs have moved for default judgment.

On December 29,

2017, the Magistrate Judge issued his Findings and Recommendation
to Grant in Part and Deny in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion for Default
Judgment (“F&R”), ECF No. 42.

The F&R recommended that: (1)

default judgment be entered in favor of each respective Plaintiff
and against Pagaduan; (2) Pagaduan be ordered to delete or
destroy any and all illegal copies of

“Mechanic: Resurrection,”

“Once Upon a Time in Venice,” and “London Has Fallen;” (3)
Pagaduan be permanently enjoined from downloading any of the
three movies via BitTorrent or in any other manner infringing on
Plaintiffs’ respective copyrights; (4) statutory damages of $750
be awarded to each of the three Plaintiffs, for a total statutory
damages award of $2,250; (5) attorney’s fees of $875 be awarded;
and (6) costs of $270 be awarded.
No party objected to the F&R.

Nevertheless, in

reviewing the F&R, this court became concerned that LHF
Productions had already sued and received a judgment against
Pagaduan with respect to copyright infringement claims for
identical conduct two days before the conduct at issue in this
case.

The court therefore issued an Order to Show Cause why

those claims should not be dismissed based on issue and/or claim
preclusion.

See ECF No. 44.

During arguments at the show cause

hearing of February 20, 2018, this court continued to question
whether LHF Productions’ claims were barred by claim preclusion.
The court did not rule at the hearing, instead taking the matter
under advisement.

The day after the hearing, LHF Productions

voluntarily dismissed its claims against Pagaduan.
47.

See ECF No.

This court therefore modifies the F&R to remove any

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recommended award to LHF Productions.

The court adopts the

remainder of the F&R as modified.
II.

STANDARD.
A district judge reviews de novo those portions of a

magistrate judge’s findings and recommendation to which an
objection is made and may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or
in part, the findings and recommendation made by the magistrate
judge.
74.2.

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b); Local Rule
Kealoha v. Totto, 2017 WL 1839280, *2 (D. Haw. May 8,

2017); Paco v. Meyers, 2013 WL 6843057, *1 (D. Haw. Dec. 26,
2013).

In other words, a district judge “review[s] the matter

anew, the same as if it had not been heard before, and as if no
decision previously had been rendered.”

Freeman v. DirectTV,

Inc., 457 F.3d 1001, 1005 (9th Cir. 2006).

While the district

judge must arrive at independent conclusions about those portions
of the magistrate judge’s report to which objections are made, a
de novo hearing is not required.

United States v. Remsing, 874

F.2d 614, 617 (9th Cir. 1989); Kealoha, 2017 WL 1839280, *2;
Local Rule 74.2.
The district judge may accept those portions of the
findings and recommendation that are not objected to if the
district judge is satisfied that there is no clear error on the
face of the record.

United States v. Bright, 2009 WL 5064355, *3

(D. Haw. Dec. 23, 2009); Stow v. Murashige, 288 F. Supp. 2d 1122,
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1127 (D. Haw. 2003).

The district judge may receive further

evidence or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with
instructions.

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).

The district judge may

also consider the record developed before the magistrate judge.
Local Rule 74.2.
III.

ANALYSIS.
Given the dismissal of LHF Productions’ claims against

Pagaduan, the court modifies the F&R by removing any award in
favor of LHF Productions, including any attorney’s fee award.
With that modification, the court adopts the remainder of the
F&R, ruling as follows:
First, default judgment is granted against Pagaduan and
in favor of Plaintiffs ME2 and Venice.
Second, Pagaduan is ordered to delete or destroy any
and all illegal copies of “Mechanic: Resurrection” and “Once Upon
a Time in Venice” that he has in his possession or that he has
control over.
Third, Pagaduan is permanently enjoined from
downloading or offering to others “Mechanic: Resurrection” and/or
“Once Upon a Time in Venice” via BitTorrent or in any other
manner infringing on ME2’s or Venice’s respective copyrights.
Fourth, statutory damages of $750 each are awarded to
ME2 and Venice, for a total statutory damages award of $1,500.

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Fifth, attorney’s fees of $527.50 (2.11 hours at $250
per hour) are awarded to ME2 and Venice.

These fees reflect a

reduction in the amount recommended by the F&R in light of LHF
Productions’ dismissal of its claims against Pagaduan.

The court

adopts the fee recommendation set forth in the F&R, except as
modified below.
With respect to the pre-First Amended Complaint fees,
the F&R recommended a reduction based on excessiveness from 1.8
hours to 1.0 hours, a 4/9 reduction in the amount.

Of the 1.8

hours requested, 1.0 hours of fees incurred from July 23, 2017,
through August 28, 2017, either are related or could be related
to fees incurred on behalf of LHF Productions.
PageID # 235.

See ECF No. 33-7,

The court declines to award such fees because ME2

and Venice have failed to demonstrate that those fees were
incurred on their behalf, leaving a total of 0.8 hours of the
original 1.8 hours requested.

For the reasons stated in the F&R,

the court reduces the remaining 0.8 hours by 4/9, the discounted
rate recommended by the F&R, leaving 0.44 hours of fees that the
court awards for pre-First Amended Complaint work on behalf of
ME2 and Venice.
With respect to the fees associated with the Motion for
Default Judgment, the F&R determined that the 6.7 hours spent
preparing it was excessive and that the award of fees with
respect to the motion should be reduced to 2.5 hours.

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This court

modifies this recommendation by further reducing it by 1/3 to
subtract fees incurred on behalf of LHF Productions.

The court

therefore awards 1.67 hours of time with respect to the Motion
for Default Judgment.
The court awards a total fee amount of $527.50, which
reflects an hourly rate of $250 and fees for 0.44 and 1.67 hours
of work (a total of 2.11 hours).
Sixth, the court awards the full amount of costs
recommended by the F&R, $270, as those costs related to the
filing fee for this action and the service of ME2’s original
Complaint.
V.

See ECF No. 33-8, PageID # 240.
CONCLUSION.
As set forth above, the court modifies and adopts the

F&R.
Because all claims against all parties have now been
adjudicated, the court directs the Clerk of Court to enter
judgment in favor of Plaintiffs ME2 and Venice and against
Defendant Pagaduan and to close this case.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, February 27, 2018.

/s/ Susan Oki Mollway
Susan Oki Mollway
United States District Judge
LHF Productions, Inc. v. Pagaduan, Civil No. 17-000130 SOM/KJM; ORDER MODIFYING AND
ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART MOTION FOR
DEFAULT JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANT TRAVIS PAGADUAN

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