Columbia Pictures Industries v. T & F Enterprises

68 F.Supp.2d 833

COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Tristar Pictures, Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios, Inc.; United Artists Pictures, Inc.; Disney Enterprises, Inc.; Warner Bros.; Foxvideo, Inc.; Live Home Video, Inc. (Live America, Inc.); Columbia Tristar Home Video; Savoy Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. T & F ENTERPRISES, INC. a/k/a T & P Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Four Star Video & Communications at 1637/1643 West Road, Trenton, Michigan 4183, Thamir Yousif and Fred Chirco, individually, Defendants.

No. Civ.A. 96-40442.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

October 26, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Eric Nemeth, Raymond & Prokop, Southfield, MI, for Plaintiffs.

Richard G. Brewer, Stephen M. Friedman, Meklir, Nolish, Southfield, MI, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GADOLA, District Judge.

Before this Court is a motion by Plaintiffs for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons set forth below, this Court: (1) grants Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on the issue of Defendants' liability for copyright infringement; (2) orders that a judgment be entered in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $500 for each of the 363 copyrighted works infringed by Defendants; (3) enters a permanent injunction enjoining Defendants from infringing Plaintiffs' copyrights; (4) orders that the videocassettes in question seized from Defendants be returned to Plaintiffs; and (5) awards attorneys fees to Plaintiffs in an amount to be determined following submissions by Plaintiffs.

Factual Background

Plaintiffs are thirteen motion picture corporations and partnerships that hold the copyrights or exclusive licenses under the copyrights to various motion pictures released for distribution on videocassette. Defendant T & F Enterprises, Inc. a/k/a T & P Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Four Star Video & Communications (hereinafter "Four Star Video") operated a video rental business out of a store located in Trenton, Michigan. Defendants, Fred Chirco a/k/a Fred Chaffee and Thamir Yousif a/k/a Tom Chaffee, were at all relevant times officers of Four Star Video.

On April 19, 1996, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at Defendants' place of business. The FBI seized 440 videocassette copies of motion pictures. Plaintiffs contend that at least one of the Plaintiffs in this case owns or holds an exclusive copyright interest in each of the motion pictures seized in the raid. Defendants purchased pirated copies of the motion pictures on videocassettes and offered them for distribution to the general public without permission from any Plaintiff. Plaintiffs contend that the 440 videocassettes seized from Defendants infringed 363 motion picture works copyrighted by Plaintiffs.

Subsequent to the raid, Defendants Chirco and Yousif were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and criminal infringement of a copyright in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2319(b)(1) and (2). On November 11, 1997, both Chirco and Yousif pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the United States in plea agreements pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The plea agreements provide, in pertinent part:

A. [Defendants] shall enter a plea of guilty to count one of the Indictment.

B. The elements of the offense(s) are:

(i) First, that two or more persons conspired, or agreed, to commit the crime of infringing copyrights in a substantial number of motion pictures.

(ii) Second, that the [Defendants] knowingly and voluntarily joined the conspiracy.

(iii) Third, that a member of the conspiracy did one of the overt acts described in the indictment for the purpose of advancing or helping the conspiracy.

C. The parties stipulate to the following, which the government is prepared to prove, as an accurate factual basis for [Defendants'] guilty plea:

The [Defendants] knowingly and willfully agreed ... to obtain personal financial gain and commercial advantage by illegally purchasing and renting over 400 pirated video cassette movies between September, 1995, and May, 1996. In furtherance of the agreement, [Defendants] purchased pirated video cassette movies from an undercover FBI agent at prices below retail and then rented the movies to the general public at [their] store.... Both the purchase of the pirated video cassette movies and rental to customers occurred in the Eastern District of Michigan between the dates mentioned above.

Pls.' Mot. for Summ.J., Ex. 4, ¶ 1 (emphasis in original). Ultimately, Chirco was sentenced to a term of probation of two years and ordered to pay $25,700 in restitution to the Motion Picture Association of America. Yousif was sentenced to a term of probation of three years and ordered to pay $55,700 in restitution to the Motion Picture Association of America.

On December 12, 1996, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint alleging various violations of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. On May 27, 1999, Plaintiffs filed the instant Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.

Discussion

1. Standard for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of an essential element of the nonmoving party's case on which the nonmoving party would bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Martin v. Ohio Turnpike Commission, 968 F.2d 606, 608 (6th Cir.1992). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the facts and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. 60 Ivy Street Corp. v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir.1987). The court is not required or permitted, however, to judge the evidence or make findings of fact. Id. at 1435-36. The moving party has the burden of showing conclusively that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. at 1435.

A fact is "material" for purposes of summary judgment where proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting an essential element of the cause of action or a defense advanced by the parties. Kendall v. Hoover Co., 751 F.2d 171, 174 (6th Cir.1984). A dispute over a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Accordingly, where a reasonable jury could not find that the nonmoving party is entitled to a verdict, there is no genuine issue for trial and summary judgment is appropriate. Id.; Feliciano v. City of Cleveland, 988 F.2d 649, 654 (6th Cir.1993).

Once the moving party carries its initial burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact is in dispute, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to present specific facts to prove that there is a genuine issue for trial. To create a genuine issue of material fact, the nonmoving party must present more than just some evidence of a disputed issue. As the United States Supreme Court has stated:

[T]here is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the [nonmoving party's] evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted); see Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Consequently, the nonmoving party must do more than raise some doubt as to the existence of a fact; the nonmoving party must produce evidence that would be sufficient to require submission of the issue to the jury. Lucas v. Leaseway Multi Transp. Serv., Inc., 738 F.Supp. 214, 217 (E.D.Mich.1990), aff'd, 929 F.2d 701 (6th Cir.1991).

2. Analysis

a. Liability

Section 106 of the Copyright Act provides, in relevant part:

Subject to sections 107 through 121, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; ... [and]

(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of the ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending....

17 U.S.C. § 106.

The parties agree that to establish a prima facie case of copyright infringement in this case, Plaintiffs must show: (1) that they own valid copyrights in the motion pictures represented on the video cassettes seized by the FBI from Defendants; and (2) that Defendants violated one or more of the exclusive rights granted Plaintiffs in 17 U.S.C. § 106 by copying or distributing Plaintiffs' copyrighted motion pictures without authorization. See Hasbro Bradley, Inc. v. Sparkle Toys, Inc., 780 F.2d 189, 192 (2d Cir.1985).

In support of the element of ownership of the various copyrights at issue in this case, Plaintiffs have submitted the affidavit of Linda Braun, a copyright and title specialist employed by the Motion Picture Association of America. Braun avers that the Association maintains copyright certificates and other information related to motion pictures in which Plaintiffs have copyright interests. Braun's...