16. January 2012 by admin.

Culver City, CA - Stephen M. Doniger, partner at Doniger / Burroughs APC, argued to a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that a lower Court had erred when dismissing the case of his fashion industry client on the basis of a putative error in the client’s copyright registration. The 9th Circuit was persuaded by Mr. Doniger’s copyright law arguments, and has now fully reversed the lower Court, handing Mr. Doniger and his client a huge win at the Court of Appeals.

Legal news website Law360 reports on the Doniger / Burroughs appellate victory here:

http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/299964?nl_pk=a1e4b90c-8f4a-4649-bcb5-781ca89a2fd9&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ip

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10. November 2011 by admin.

Los Angeles, CA - Star Fabrics, Inc. discovered that a fashion industry competitor, Morex Enterprises, Inc., was selling fabric bearing one of Star’s propriety and copyrighted textile designs. Doniger / Burroughs attorneys Stephen Doniger and Scott Burroughs brought a copyright claim on behalf of Star Fabrics in United States Federal Court. After more than a year of litigation, two fruitless mediations, and substantial motion practice - including a rejected summary judgment motion filed by the defense, and a successful summary adjudication motion on liability filed by Doniger / Burroughs - trial was set to commence on November 8, 2011 before the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson.

As the parties and attorneys gathered in the courtroom, awaiting the judge’s taking of the bench to initiate the proceedings, the defendants and their attorneys had a change of heart. After spending more than a year refusing to participate in good faith settlement talks, and repeating woefully frivolous and misguided legal arguments, defendants and their counsel admitted defeat. Perhaps in light of the poor position they found themselves in due to the legal strategy they employed during the litigation, defendants agreed to tender to Star Fabrics 1.1 million dollars in order to avoid having the jury hear the arguments presented by Star Fabrics and Doniger / Burroughs.

Defendants had previously offered only a fraction of that amount.

Following this spectacular collapse by the defense, Stephen Doniger remarked: “Despite all of their posturing and legal bluster, Morex and its attorneys realized that they would be hurt far worse if the jury was allowed to hear the case and render a verdict.”

Star Fabrics was represented by Stephen Doniger and Scott Burroughs of Doniger / Burroughs APC.

Morex Enterprises was represented by Scott Shaw and Delavan Dickson of Call & Jensen APC.

For more information in regard to the above, please contact Ann Grozman at (310) 590-1820.

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22. October 2011 by admin.

Culver City, CA - Doniger / Burroughs has been retained by photographer Peter Benke to prosecute sweeping claims of copyright infringement against The Andaz Hotel, its advertising agents, Departure Agency and Digiteria, and others.

Peter Benke is an accomplished and in-demand photographer who has exhibited his work in galleries across the southland. A sampling of his innovative work is available here:  http://www.peterbenkephoto.com/

Mr. Benke’s claims arise from an advertising campaign he shot for the Ivy Hotel. The complaint alleges that he granted a limited license to the Departure Agency to use certain of the photographs he took in connection with that campaign, and Departure Agency breached that license by failing to tender the consideration due under the agreement, and making use of the photographs in a way that went well beyond the substantive and temporal scope of the license. The complaint alleges that the unauthorized use of Mr. Benke’s photographs constitutes copyright infringement. One such allegedly infringing use was the display by The Andaz Hotel of the photographs in its web marketing without right or authorization.

The defendants deny liability, and deny that the allegedly unauthorized use of the photographs at issue has damaged Mr. Benke.

The case is currently pending before the Honorable Valerie B. Fairbank in United States District Court in Los Angeles, and has been set for a jury trial on September 18, 2012.

For further information regarding this case, contact Scott A. Burroughs at (310) 590-1820 or scott@donigerlawfirm.com

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27. September 2011 by admin.

The reportage can be found here (subscription req’d): http://www.law360.com/articles/273735/target-clothing-infringed-fabric-maker-s-design-judge

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23. August 2011 by admin.

Get the scoop here: http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/article/944710–forever-21-print-theft-in-fashion

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3. August 2011 by admin.

The reportage is here: http://www.apparelnews.net/news/manufacturing/080111-Target-to-Pay-389000-in-EKB-Textiles-Copyright-Case

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1. August 2011 by admin.

August 1, 2011 - A review of the rankings of the Central District of California copyright verdicts entered over the last two years reveals what many artists, companies, attorneys, and judges already know: Doniger /Burroughs is unsurpassed when it comes to litigating copyright cases.

The rankings reflect that Doniger / Burroughs was the law firm of record on all four of the top four copyright verdicts entered over the last two years.*:

  1.       United Fabrics International, Inc.  v. Lane Bryant, Inc.; et al., 2010 WL 2734439 (C.D.Cal. January 15, 2010), (NO. 08CV06865).  RESULT: Verdict-Plaintiff.

            The jury found for Doniger / Burroughs client United Fabrics and awarded it $447,670.60.

2.         EKB Textiles, Inc. v. Target Corporation, CV-10-4443 (C.D. Cal. July 27, 2011). RESULT: Verdict-Plaintiff.

            The jury found for Doniger / Burroughs client EKB Textiles and awarded it $389,638.00.

3.         L.A. Printex Industries Inc. vs. G&G Multitex, Inc., 2010 WL 6648986(C.D.Cal. December 08, 2010), (NO. 09CV03812). RESULT: Verdict-Plaintiff.

            The jury found for Doniger / Burroughs client L.A. Printex and awarded it $150,000.00.

4.         Alchemist Evolution LLC vs. Smash, Inc., 2011 WL 2029097 (C.D.Cal. January 11, 2011), (NO. 10CV04445). RESULT: Verdict - Plaintiff.

            The jury found for Doniger / Burroughs client Alchemist Evolution LLC and awarded it $40,750.00.

Source: WESTLAW

*These verdicts do not include awards of costs and attorneys’ fees. 

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29. July 2011 by admin.

Breaking: In a copyright case involving the unlawful use of a fabric design, the jury has returned a verdict in favor of firm client Caribbean Blues, and against Target Corp. and LF USA.

LF USA obtained one of Caribbean Blues’ proprietary textile design by procuring a garment bearing that design from a company in Korea. LF USA then modified the design slightly, printed it on garments, and attempted to pass them off as an “exclusive” to Target. LF USA and Target subsequently sold hundreds of thousands of units of this infringing product.

The defendants’ attorneys had asked the jury to award to the plaintiff no more than $50,000.00. Clearly rejecting the defense attorneys’ arguments, the jury returned a verdict of $389,000.00 in favor of Plaintiff. This award is one of the largest fashion copyright verdicts of 2011.

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22. July 2011 by admin.

In a case filed by fabric company United Fabrics alleging copyright infringement against Macys and its vendors, the situation looked dire when the district court judge dismissed the case sua sponte, finding that the copyright registration for the design at issue was invalid. Undaunted by this setback, Doniger / Burroughs partner Scott Burroughs appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Before a panel of three appellate judges, Mr. Burroughs pleaded his client’s case, noting that Macys’ attorneys had urged a misapplication of the law, and there was no evidence or precedent to support the district court decision.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was persuaded by Mr. Burroughs’ argument, finding unanimously in favor of his client, and reinstating the case. Back at the district court level, Mr. Burroughs requested a renewed ruling on the Motion for Summary judgment that had previously been denied at the same time the case was dismissed. The judge agreed, and partially granted the motion.

As the Doniger / Burroughs trial team was preparing the matter for the jury, more than two and a half years after the case had been filed, and just one day before trial was set to commence, Macys settled, agreeing to pay a substantial six-figure sum to avoid the jury trial.

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19. July 2011 by admin.

And, the blogs take note:

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/07/forever_21_faces_another_copyr.html

http://ecosalon.com/fast-fashion-giant-forever-21-steals-sustainable-label-feral-childes-design/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ecosalon+%28EcoSalon+Main+Feed%29

http://consumerist.com/2011/07/forever-21-sued-again-for-allegedly-swiping-a-textile-design.html

http://jezebel.com/5821563/forever-21-gets-sued-for-copying–again

http://www.ecouterre.com/feral-childe-slaps-forever-21-with-copyright-infringement-lawsuit/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/forever-21-sued-by-feral-childe/

http://kaightnyc.blogspot.com/2011/07/support-feral-childe-not-forever21.html

http://fashionablyjust.com/2011/07/the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black-forever-21-busted-for-copyright-infringement/

http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-forever-21-rips-off-indie-designers-print/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/is-forever-21-an-eco-fashion-design-thief-photos.php

http://www.ecouterre.com/feral-childe-slaps-forever-21-with-copyright-infringement-lawsuit/feral-childe-forever-21-1/

http://www.emcblue.com/blog/2011/07/forever-21-in-another-copyright-infringement-scandal/

http://la.racked.com/archives/2011/07/18/forever21_knocks_off_ad_infinitum.php

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