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SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 22 – 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, on April 22, this: "ORDER re: [159] MOTION for Default Judgment as to Defendants ABC Books LLC, Fidaa Hashemi, Leonard Johnson, Bronislav Teplitskiy, Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd., Ranjan Kumar Behera, Geoffrey Labos, Maylourd Ascrate, Soarabh Gupta, Madhu Gupta, Nazir Yakub Beli filed by Cengage Learning, Inc., Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC, McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC, Pearson Education, Inc., Elsevier Inc. Accordingly, ABC Books LLC and Hashemi together shall pay Plaintiffs $330,000 in damages ($30,000 per violation for 11 books sold), Johnson shall pay Plaintiffs $390,000 in damages ($30,000 per violation for 13 books sold), Teplitskiy shall pay Plaintiffs $240,000 in damages ($30,000 per violation for eight books sold), Challenge Book Store Pvt. Ltd. and Ranjan Kumar Behera together shall pay Plaintiffs $390,000 in damages ($30,000 per violation for 13 books sold), Ascrate shall pay Plaintiffs $90,000 in damages ($30,000 per violation for three books sold), Soarbh and Madhu Gupta together shall pay Plaintiffs $600,000 in damages ($150,000 per violation for four books sold), and Labos shall pay Plaintiffs $600,000 in damages ($100,000 per violation for six books sold). The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate the motion pending at docket entry 159 and to close this case. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Ronnie Abrams on 4/21/2021) (rj) Transmission to Orders and Judgments Clerk for processing."

The case is Pearson Education, Inc. et al v. Doe 1 et al., 19-cv-7642 (Abrams)

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