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8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
1/21
JS44C/SDNY
CIVIL COVER
REV. 4/2014 JUDGFCOTP
The JS-44 civil cover sheet andtne information contained herein neither replace nor supplement the filing
pleadings or other papers as required by law,except as provided by local rules ofcourt. Thisform,approved bythe
JudicialConference ofthe UnitedStates inSeptember 1974, is requiredfor use ofthe Clerk ofCourtforthe purpose of
initiating the civil docket sheet.
2 4
CV
M
ed bvthe * W
2 14
PLAINTIFFS
DEFENDANTS
ARMEN DJERRAHIAN GLOBAL GRINDDIGITAL, INC.A/K/A GG DIGITAL, INC.,
and
RUSSEL
SIMMONS
ATTORNEYS (FIRM NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER
ATTORNEYS
(IFKNOWN)
Edward C. Greenberg, LLC
570
Lexington
Avenue,
19th Floor, New York, NY
10022
(212) 697-8777
CAUSE OFACTION (CITE THE U.S. CIVIL STATUTE
UNDER
WHICH YOU ARE FILING AND
WRITE
ABRIEF STATEMENTOF CAUSE)
(DO NOTCITEJURISDICTIONALSTATUTES UNLESS DIVERSITY)
Copyright Infringement 17 U.S.C 501-505
Has this action, case, or proceeding, or
one
essentially the same
been
previously
filed in SDNY at any time? N
8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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PLACE
AN
x IN ONE BOXONLY ORIGIN
I*] 1
Original
2 Removed from
L_I
3
Remanded
D 4 Reinstated or O 5
Transferred
from Q 6
Multidistrict
7 Appeal to Distric
Proceeding
State
Court from Reopened (Specify
District)
Litigation Judge from
a.
,llP,rti.srp,.n.d
APPate
Magistrate Judg
L '
K K Court Judgment
I | b. At least one
party is pro se .
PLACEANxINONEBOXONLY
BASIS
OF
JURISDICTION
IF
DIVERSITY, INDICATE
D
1
U.S. PLAINTIFF
2 U.S.
DEFENDANT
[x] 3
FEDERAL QUESTION
\J4 DIVERSITY CITIZENSHIP BELOW.
(U.S. NOT A PARTY)
CITIZENSHIP OF PRINCIPAL PARTIES (FOR
DIVERSITY
CASES
ONLY)
(Place an [X] inone box for Plaintiffand one box for Defendant)
PTF DEF
PTFDEF
PTF DEF
CITIZEN OFTHIS
STATE
[ ]1 [ ]1 CITIZEN ORSUBJECT OFA [ ]3 [ ] 3 INCORPORATED and
PRINCIPAL
PLACE [ ]5 [ ]5
FOREIGN
COUNTRY
OF BUSINESS IN
ANOTHER
STATE
CITIZEN OF
ANOTHER STATE
[ ]2 [ ]2 INCORPORATED or
PRINCIPAL PLACE
[ ]4 [ ]4 FOREIGN
NATION
[ ]6 [ ]6
OF BUSINESS IN
THIS
STATE
PLAINTIFF(S) ADDRESS(ES) ANDCOUNTY(IES)
ARMEN DJERRAHIAN, 164 Russell St, #2R, Brooklyn, New York, 11222
DEFENDANT(S)ADDRESS(ES) ANDCOUNTY(IES)
GLOBAL GRIND DIGITAL, INC., a/k/a GG DIGITAL, INC., 980 Avenue of the Americas, New York,
New
York,
10018
RUSSELL SIMMONS,
980
Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York, 10018
DEFENDANT(S) ADDRESS UNKNOWN
REPRESENTATIONIS HEREBY
MADE THAT,
ATTHIS
TIME,
I HAVE BEEN UNABLE,
WITH
REASONABLEDILIGENCE, TO ASCERTAIN
RESIbENCE ADDRESSES
OF THE FOLLOWING DEFENDANTS:
Check one:
THIS
ACTION
SHOULD
BE
ASSIGNED
TO:
WHITE PLAINS [x] MANHATTAN
(DO NOT check either box if this a PRISONER PETITION/PRISONER CIVIL RIGHTS
COMPLAINT.)
DATE
/SIGNATURE.Of
ATTORNEY
OF RECORD
^
ADMITTED TO
PRACTICE
IN
THIS
DISTRICT
4f r7 ir
s
s? ss~
m no
V / / > > ^ J ^
^F
/ , [] YES
(DATE
ADMITTED
Mo. 10
Yr.
82
RECEIPT* y/Xyy^y/^^/^::^lf / / r
Attorney
Bar Code
#
5553
Magistrate
Judge
is to be designated by the Clerk of the Court.*,.
Magistrate Judge
^^i^EMAlfl
is so Designated.
Ruby J. Krajick,
Clerk
ofCourt by Deputy
Clerk,
DATED .
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT(NEWYORKSOUTHERN)
Cl ea r Form Save Print
8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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4U0GEC0TE
UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT
OF
NEW
YORK
ARMEN DJERRAHIAN,
Plaintiff,
14
CV
against
GLOBAL
GRIND DIGITAL,
INC.
A/K/A GG
DIGITALJNC,
and RUSSELL SIMMONS,
Defendants .
7547
COMPLA INT
: l
c ;
E CF C AS E
P
o
~n
~T
1
J
^
PlaintiffARMEN DJERRAHIAN by his attorney,
EDWARD
C. GREENBERG,
LLC,
alleges as follows that:
PART IE S
1. PlaintiffARMEN DJERRAHIAN (hereinafter Plaintiff or DJERRAHIAN ) is an
individual citizen
of
France, who is actively engaged in the photography business in the State
of
New
York and elsewhere, and who resides in Brooklyn,
New
York 11222.
2. Defendant GLOBAL GRIND DIGITAL, INC., a/k/a GG DIGITAL,
INC.
(hereinafter GLOBAL GRIND ) is a domestic business corporation, duly organized and
existing under the laws
of
the State
of
New York, which upon information and belief, maintains
its principle place of business at 980 Avenue
of
the Americas, New York, New York, 10018 and
is
l icensed
to do business i n t he
State
o f
N ew
York.
3. Defendant RUSSELL SIMMONS (hereinafter SIMMONS ) is an individual
who upon information and
belief
resides and routinely does business in the State and County
of
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NewYork. Uponinformation andbelief, SIMMONS wholly ownsdefendant GLOBAL
GRIND.
JUR ISD ICT ION AND
VENUE
3. This is a civil action for copyright infringement.
4. Jurisdiction is conferred upon this Court by 28 U.S.C. 1338.
5. Venue in the Southern District ofNewYork is proper
pursuant
to 28U.S.C.
1400.
FACTS
COMMON TO
ALL CLAIMS
6.
That
Plaintiff
DJERRAHIAN
is a
successful
professional photographer with
many
years of experience and a considerable reputation.
7. DJERRAHIAN is well known in the hip hop music business, as he has worked with
majorartists including Jay-Z,Usher,50 Cent, Eminem, KanyeWest,Rick Ross anddirector
Spike Lee.
DJERRAHIAN s
work has been featured on the covers of several issues ofVibe
Magazine,
and
on
The
Wild
Magazine,
XXL
Magazine,
and
numerous
international
publications.
8. DJERRAHIAN has also shot and directed
music videos
and commercials, including
a music video featuring R&B recording artist Melanie Fiona, which received a nomination for
[Best]
Video
of
the
Year at the 2010 BET
Awards.
9. DJERRAHIAN is alsoa
successful
fashion photographer who hasshotphotos for
Shinola, Cazal Eyewear, Nike, Fila, Reebok, Marc Ecko, and commercials for
Elle
Magazine,
Revlon, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Piaget.
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TH E I M AGE S
10. On May 17, 2010, DJERRAHIAN created photographic images
of
the performer,
rapper and mogul, William Leonard Roberts III, better known as Rick Ross (hereinafter
Ross ) for XXL Magazine, which were published in the July/August 2010 issue ofXXL
Magazine.
11. One of such images ofRoss captures him holding his hand in the shape of a gun
to his head (hereinafter the Image or Subject Image , a copy
of
which is annexed hereto as
Exhibit A ).
12. DJERRAHIAN is well known as the creator of the Subject Image, having been
credited for same when the Image was originally published in XXL Magazine.
13. DJERRAHIAN duly registered the Image with the United States Copyright Office on
April 4, 2014, Registration No. VA 1-908-336 (a copy of said registration is annexed hereto as
Exhibit B ).
14. Ross has sold millions
of
albums and has had at least five (5) albums reach #1 on the
Billboard
music charts.
15. Ross is the founder and head
of
the record label imprint Maybach Music Group, also
k nown a s MMG .
16. The Subject Image ofRoss is iconic in the hip hop community.
17. Upon information and belief, various blogs referring to Ross have purposely selected
the Subject Image ofhim due at least in part to its value and attention getting nature.
18. The Image
of
Ross creatively captures the personality
of
Ross.
19. Upon information and belief, since the Image's creation, the Image has helped to
shape and form Ross' brand in the hip hop music community.
8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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20. That Image is an important element
of
hip hop music culture.
21. The Subject Image ofRoss is upon information and belief, the definitive image of
him.
22. TMZ has touted the Image as iconic .
23. Defendants operate www.globalgrind.com; a website publishing news and content
about aspects of pop culture including information pertaining to the lives
of
celebrities, lifestyles,
fashion, music, and politics.
24. Upon information and belief, GLOBAL GRIND is wholly owned by mogul Russell
Simmons.
25. SIMMONS is a hip hop mogul, business person of considerable influence, and is
active in the music and hip hop industries.
26. Defendants, or one or more
of
them, have employed the Image in multiple forms on
it s websi te wi thout a l icense authorizat ion or consent.
27. The Subject Image
of
Ross was/is valuable to Defendants.
THE
OFFENDING
USES OF T HE IM A GE S
28. GLOBAL GRIND has employed DJERRAHIAN's Image at least on their website
in a photo gallery under the heading 15 Rappers WithThe BestAd-Libs (LIST) , a copy of
which is annexed h er et o a s Exhi bi t C
29. GLOBAL GRIND has further employed DJERRAHIAN's Image in connection
with an article entitled Stay The F*ck Away.. .Period By Russell Simmons , a copy
of
which is
annexed
hereto
as
Exhib i t
C
30. Upon information and belief, Simmons wrote article, selected plaintiffs Image to
include in same, approved of and published the article with the Image.
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8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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39. The May
14,
2014
Notice Letter included
DJERRAHIAN s
then pending
copyright registration
case number,
and copies of
at
least some ofGLOBAL GRIND s offending
uses
of
the Image.
40.
Defendant, byits counsel, issued responses toplaintiffs requests ona
confidential basis. Despite
same, the
parties
have
been unable to reach a resolution,
sans judicial
intervention.
41.
Plaintiffis committed toprotecting his
copyright
intheSubject
Image.
42. Plaintiff has filed an action against Ross and others in the United states District
Court for the Southern
District
ofNew York, case number 14-cv-3291, pending before Judge
Oetken,
sounding in copyright infringement, based on allegations of their unauthorized
uses
of
the Subject Imageandother Imagestakenby Plaintiff.
43. SIMMONS co-founded the music label
Def
Jam , which is a defendant in
plaintiffs
other litigation against Ross
et
al,
index
number 14-cv-3291 (JPO).
44.
Upon
information and
belief,
the
defendants
are a sophisticated
licensors
and
licensees of
intellectual
property and employ attorneys and/or systems or
protocols
to secure
usage of the intellectual property created by thirdparties.
45. That the defendants, or one or more of them, have no defenses at law to the claims
set forth
herein.
46. That
the
full
nature and
extent
ofall
infringing
uses ofplaintiffs Image
by
GLOBAL
GRIND
are
unknown toPlaintiff
as
of this writing, said information being within the
sole knowledge, custody, and control
of
defendants, or one or more
of
them. That such details
and
information
are expected tobe
ascertained
through discovery in this
action.
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47. Paragraphs 1 through 44 are incorporated by reference with respect to each
of
the below
counts
or
claims
for relief.
FIRST
CLA IM
FOR RE L IE F
Copyright Infringement
Under Section 501
of
the Copyright Act
48. That the use of the Plaintiffs Image by the Defendants, or one or more of them, in
connection with the website www.globalgrind.com was and is without the plaintiffs
authorization, license
or
consent.
49. That, upon information and belief, the defendants, or one or more
of
them, have
infringed the copyright in
Plaintiffs
Image.
50. That, upon information and belief, the aforementioned acts of defendants, or one
or more
of
them, constitute federal statutory copyright infringement under Section 501 of the
Copyright Act in violation of the rights granted to DJERRAHIAN as copyright holder.
51. That, upon information and belief, defendant(s)' uses
of
the Subject Image was
willful, intentional and in
bad
faith.
52. That, upon information and belief, defendant(s)' use
of
the Image in violation of
Plaintiffs copyright was negligent in that it knew or should have known that it was without a
license for the use(s) complained of herein.
53. That, upon information and belief, defendants, or one or more of them, had actual
and/or constructive knowledge and/or through the exercise
of
ordinary business care and/or the
examination of publicrecords, knewor shouldhave knownthat Plaintiffheld the copyright in
the Subject Image, that defendants never had (at any
of
the relevant times herein) a license,
consent,or authorization by Plaintiff for the use of Plaintiff s Image on its website or in any other
8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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medium ofnews source employed by defendants, orone or
more
of them, and that
any
such
use
would be in violation of Plaintiffs copyright.
54. That as a result
of
defendant(s)' acts, Plaintiffhas been and will continue to be
damaged
in an
amount
as yet to be determined. Plaintiff is aprofessional photographer who
earns
his livelihood by
licensing
rights to
third
parties to employ
his photographic images.
55.
The Copyright Act enables a
prevailing
plaintiff to
elect
to recover
statutory
damages attorneys fees and costs under Section 504 and 505 of the Copyright Act,
17
U.S.C.
Section
101
et.,
seq., oras
an
alternative to statutory
damages,
his
actual damages
and any
additional profits of the defendants, or one ormore of them, which are attributable to the
infringement as under 17U.S.C. Sections 504 (a)-(b).
56. That Plaintiff has been harmed inan amount to be determined bythisHonorable
Court, but believed to be no less than $50,000.
57. That as a result of defendant(s)' acts, Plaintiff has been and will continue to be
damaged in an amount as yet to be determined.
JURY DEMAND
36. That Plaintiffrequests a trial by jury of all issues.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffdemands judgmentas against thedefendant as follows:
ONTHEFIRSTCOUNT-
(A) Award to plaintiffhis actual damages incurred asa result
ofdefendants
infringements,
and all
profits realized as
a
result
of
their infringements,
inamounts
to
be determined
at
trial
but inanamount tobe
determined by this
Court; or
(B)
in
the
alternative,
atplaintiffs election,
award to
plaintiff
maximum statutory damages
pursuant
to 17
U.S.C. 504 for each individual act ofinfringement, and for an
order
of
injunction
permanently
enjoining
and
prohibiting
the defendant,
including but not
limited
to wholly owned subsidiaries,
8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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from employing
or
utilizing
in any
manner
ormedia
whatsoever, including
all future uses,
sales,
transfers, assignments, or licensing of any and allofplaintiffs
copyrighted
images, pursuant to
17
U.S.C.
502and for an
award
of costs and attorneys' feespursuantto 17
U.S.C.
505;
Prejudgment interest on all sums due;
And
such other
and
further reliefasthisCourt
may
deem just and
proper
inclusive of
any
andallreliefor remedies allowable bythe statutes referenced above or applicable hereinabove.
Dated: New York, NY
September 17, 2014
Yours,
etc.,
EDWARD C.
GREENBERG,
LLC
BY: Edward C. Greenberg, Esq. (ECG 5553)
By: Tamara L. Lannin, Esq. (TL 3784)
570 Lexington Ave., 19th Floor
New
York,
NY 10022
Tel: (212) 697-8777
Fax: (212) 697-2528
Attorneysfor Plaintiff
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Certificateof Registration
o'*?Xy. I'^'sCertificate issuedunder thesealof theCopyright
Office in
accordance
Willititle
17,
Untied Slates Coiic.
ntteste that registration hasbeenmadefor thework
identified below, 1
ti e
information on this certificate has
beenmadea pan of theCopyrightOifke
records.
TTLLA'tiu.
>vcXt
Registration Number
VA 1-908-336
Effective date
o f
registration:
April
4,2014
egister
ofCopyrights.UnitedStatesofAmerica
Tit le
Title
of
Work:
XXL MagazinerRick Ross
Number 4 Date m
Copiesiuly Aug 2010
Title of Larger
Work: XXL MagaanrrickrossOIc
Number
01c
Dateon
Copiejuly/Aug2010
XXL Magazine:rickross02c
Number 02c Dateon Corjfesjuly/Aug20l0
XXL MagazinerrickrossOJc
Number
03c
DateonCopfesjuiy/Aug
2010
XXL Magane:rickros$04c
Number
04c
Dateon
CojriesJuly/Aug 2010
Completion/Publication
Au thor
YearofContpIetia*: 2010
Dite
of
1s t
Publication: June
15,
2010
Author: Armen Charles Djerrahian
Pseudonym:
ARMEN
Author
Created:
photograpfKs)
Citizen of: France
Year Bon : 1969
Pseudonymous: Yes
Nation o f 1st Publication: United Sta tes
Domiciled In: Mnitcd States
Page
lo f
2
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Registrations: VAOOOl908336
Service
Request*:
1-1338622681
Armen
Charles Djerrahian
164Russell Street,Apt 2R
Brooklyn, NY 11222
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