| Textbook
Publishers Demanded Payback From
Counterfeiters Get Amazon Accounts &
Fees
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 19 – Textbook publishers
led by Pearson Education, Inc.
have sued and moved for
default judgment against those
they claim sell counterfeits
of their textbooks on Amazon,
Ebay and other
platforms.
On November
20, U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Ronnie Abrams held
a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it - and identified
itself when asked.
Two of the
defendants appeared, albeit
without lawyers. They were
each given thirty days to
respond. One of them stayed on
the line to give his email
address and get the contact
information for NYLAG.
Judge
Abrams to her credit
questioning the high monetary
awards the textbook publishers
were asking for against these
pro se defendants.
The
publishers responded with the
example of two apparently
related defendants -- Madhu
Gupta and Sourabh Gupta -- one
of whom had signed a $400,000
consent decree and then just
kept on selling counterfeit
textbooks.
There was talk of
the the need for deterrence,
of counterfeiting rings in
Jordan and publishers in
China.
Ultimately
the publishers, who cut in
just as Judge Abrams was
assessing each defendant or
violation $50,000 ($30,000 for
copyright and $20,000 for
trademark), said they will
submit more detailed
information about each
defendant by "tomorrow"
(Saturday) or by next week, or
after Thanksgiving. They
want asset freezes.
Among those
suing are also Bedford,
Freeman & Worth Publishing
Group, LLC, Cengage Learning,
Inc., Elsevier Inc. and
McGraw-Hill Global Education
Holdings,
LLC.
Nazir Yakub
Belim is already known to the
court; Michael Charles McKee
apologized for failing to
respond, not opening his
father's email to see the
notices from Amazon and Ebay.
On December 4,
the plaintiffs' lawyer filed a
letter specifying the damages
sought, including $30,000 per
copyright infringed and
$200,000 per trademark
infringed against Mayloud
Ascarate, Bronislav
Teplitskiy, Leonard Johnson
and others (Guptas, "maximum
statutory damages").
Now, this
Order: "FINAL JUDGMENT AND
INJUNCTION AS TO DEFENDANTS
DESPOT DESPOTOVIC AND LIGHT
PULSATIONS: It is hereby: I.
ORDERED that final judgment is
ENTERED for Plaintiffs against
Defendants. Each party shall
bear its own costs and
expenses, including its
attorney's fees. II. ORDERED
that a permanent injunction is
ENTERED in this action as
follow: Defendants, their
officers, agents, servants,
employees, and attorneys,
their personal
representatives, heirs,
executors, administrators,
agents, and assigns, and all
those in active concert or
participation with them who
receive actual notice of this
injunction are enjoined from:
as further set forth herein.
ORDERED that the following
amounts in the accounts listed
below shall be disbursed to
Plaintiffs through their
counsel Oppenheim + Zebrak,
LLP: a) Amazon
(A12T2FZ6WW0S4B): $29,000.00
b) Amazon (A2Z86LZAVS7S0A):
$28,000.00 c) Amazon
(AFHHHBZYHV23T): $16,000.00 d)
Bank of America (Account No.
********4296): $7,900.00 e)
Chase (Account No.
******2652): $22,250.00.
FURTHER ORDERED ORDERED that
the Defendants shall pay
Plaintiffs, through their
counsel Oppenheim + Zebrak,
LLP, $336,600.00. FURTHER
ORDERED that this Order
replaces the Courts
Preliminary Injunction issued
in this matter as to
Defendants Despot Despotovic
and Light Pulsations only. SO
ORDERED. Despot Despotovic and
Light Pulsations LLC
terminated. (Signed by Judge
Ronnie Abrams on 12/16/2020)."
The case is
Pearson Education, Inc. et al
v. Doe 1 et al., 19-cv-7642
(Abrams)
***
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