Intellectual Property: Zazzle Dodges Plaintiff’s Request For Attorney’s Fees After It Lost Copyright Infringement Dispute Over Paintings

$715,833.25 Base Lodestar Request By Plaintiff Was At Issue Where $351,100 Compensatory Award And Permanent Injunction Were The Result In The Case.

            In Greg Young Publishers, Inc. v. Zazzle Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-04587-SVW (KSx) (C.D. Cal. Mar. 21, 2018), U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson denied a request by plaintiff for an award of attorney’s fees under section 505 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 505.  In this case, plaintiff won a jury verdict for $351,100 and a permanent injunction on its claims that defendant Zazzle infringed copyrights for 35 paintings by Kerne Erickson.  Plaintiff moved to recover a basic lodestar request of $715,833.25.  District Judge Wilson denied the fees motion, primarily on the ground that Zazzle made novel arguments which should not subject a litigant to chilling repercussions under the copyright fee-shifting statute.