NY Court Orders Hong Wei to Pay U2 Home $670,500 for Illegal Duplication of Video Programs

Holding:

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Hong Wei International Trading, Inc. (“Hong Wei”) and Jixong Ni (“Ni”, and collectively, the “Defendants”) to pay U2 Home Entertainment Corp. (“U2 Home” or “Plaintiff”) statutory damages of $670,500, plus costs and reasonable attorneys' fees for unlawful copying and renting of copies of Plaintiff’s Chinese-language television shows. In particular, the District Court found that the minimum statutory award of $750 per infringed episode was entirely appropriate, and easily justified by strong evidence of Defendants’ willfulness, and the obvious need to deter them from committing future acts of infringement. Defendants copied U2 Home’s copyrighted programs onto their own video compact discs ("VCDs") in breach of the parties' Sublicensing Agreement and in blatant defiance of a previously ordered Permanent Injunction. Under such circumstances, there was no question that a grant of the minimum award provided by statute was warranted. In addition, an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to U2 Home was likewise called for in this case, in light of the Defendants’ willful conduct.

Detailed Summary:

Plaintiff, the exclusive United States distributor of certain Chinese-language television programs produced in Asia, brought this action for copyright and trademark infringement against defendants Hong Wei International Trading, Inc., the operators of a Manhattan retail video store, for renting out unlawfully duplicated copies of U2 Home’s programs. U2 Home moved for summary judgment on its copyright claim and dismissal of Defendants’ counterclaim for deceptive business practices. Opinion, p. 2.

By way of background, U2 Home had exclusive authority in the United States to import, reproduce, and distribute a series of Chinese soap operas that are produced in Hong Kong and that…

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