 |
| shein, copyright, lawsuit, racketeering, rico, mary cummins, krista perry, larissa martinez, jay baron, los angeles, california, zoetop, roadget, complaint, copyright infringement,design, rico act |
UPDATE: 11/16/2023 Case is ongoing. In the meantime more cases against SHEIN showed up. It seems SHEIN just settles the copyright cases. Plaintiffs then dismiss with prejudice. All companies do this as it's most cost effective. Below is the current docket of this case. SHEIN filed motion to dismiss. There was going to be a hearing 11/20/23 but Judge decided they will hear motion based on docs alone. I would have to pay for docs to view them as they are over the free limit so I won't.
07/13/2023 9 Notice to Counsel Re Consent to Proceed Before a United States Magistrate Judge. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 10 21 DAY Summons Issued re Complaint (Attorney Civil Case Opening), 1 as to Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation and Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 11 INITIAL STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES ASSIGNED TO JUDGE MARK C. SCARSI upon filing of the complaint by Judge Mark C. Scarsi. (smo) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
09/19/2023 12 Joint STIPULATION for Order Regarding Filing of Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint and Defendants' Deadline to Respond filed by Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Ali Rabbani, # 2 Proposed Order)(Attorney Steven A. Marenberg added to party Roadget Business Pte. Ltd(pty:dft), Attorney Steven A. Marenberg added to party Shein Distribution Corporation(pty:dft), Attorney Steven A. Marenberg added to party Zoetop Business Company, Limited(pty:dft))(Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 09/19/2023)
09/21/2023 13 MINUTE ORDER IN CHAMBERS by Judge Mark C. Scarsi: ORDER RE: STIPULATION 12 .The parties stipulate for an order giving Plaintiffs Krista Perry, Larissa Martinez, and Jay Baron, leave to file a First Amended Complaint within 21 days and setting an extended response deadline and briefing schedule for any Rule 12 motion. Although the Court applauds the parties' efforts to avoid motion practice by a stipulated amendment, the stipulation is denied. The Court declines to impose a deadline by which Plaintiffs must amend their Complaint.On the basis that Plaintiffs intend to amend their pleading before Defendants file a response, the Court on its own motion extends Defendants' deadline to respond to the original Complaint to October 13, 2023. The Court expects the parties to litigate this matter expeditiously. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 1. Consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d)(4), the Court orders Plaintiffs to file the waiver of service referenced in the stipulation. (lc) (Entered: 09/21/2023)
09/21/2023 14 WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed filed by plaintiffs Krista Perry, Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez. upon Roadget Business Pte. Ltd waiver sent by Plaintiff on 7/28/2023, answer due 10/13/2023; Shein Distribution Corporation waiver sent by Plaintiff on 7/28/2023, answer due 10/13/2023; Zoetop Business Company, Limited waiver sent by Plaintiff on 7/28/2023, answer due 10/13/2023. Waiver of Service signed by Ali R. Rabbani. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 09/21/2023)
10/13/2023 15 Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel: for attorney Steven A. Marenberg counsel for Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. Adding Steven Arthur Marenberg as counsel of record for Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Zoetop Business Company, Limited for the reason indicated in the G-123 Notice. Filed by Defendants Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 16 Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel: for attorney Susan K. Leader counsel for Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. Adding Susan Leader as counsel of record for Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business PTE LTD., Zoetop Business Company, Limited for the reason indicated in the G-123 Notice. Filed by Defendants Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business PTE, LTD., Zoetop Business Company Limited. (Attorney Susan K. Leader added to party Roadget Business Pte. Ltd(pty:dft), Attorney Susan K. Leader added to party Shein Distribution Corporation(pty:dft), Attorney Susan K. Leader added to party Zoetop Business Company, Limited(pty:dft))(Leader, Susan) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 17 Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel: for attorney Ali R Rabbani counsel for Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. Adding Ali R Rabbani as counsel of record for Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business PTE, LTD, Zoetop Business Company, Limited for the reason indicated in the G-123 Notice. Filed by Defendants Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business PTE, LTD, Zoetop Business Company Limited. (Attorney Ali R Rabbani added to party Roadget Business Pte. Ltd(pty:dft), Attorney Ali R Rabbani added to party Shein Distribution Corporation(pty:dft), Attorney Ali R Rabbani added to party Zoetop Business Company, Limited(pty:dft))(Rabbani, Ali) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 18 Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel: for attorney Kiaura Clark counsel for Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. Adding Kiaura Clark as counsel of record for Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Zoetop Business Company, Limited for the reason indicated in the G-123 Notice. Filed by Defendants Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (Attorney Kiaura Clark added to party Roadget Business Pte. Ltd(pty:dft), Attorney Kiaura Clark added to party Shein Distribution Corporation(pty:dft), Attorney Kiaura Clark added to party Zoetop Business Company, Limited(pty:dft))(Clark, Kiaura) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 19 CERTIFICATE of Interested Parties filed by Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited, identifying Krista Perry, Larissa Martinez, Jay Baron, Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 20 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT filed by Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited identifying Roadget Business PTE, LTD. as Corporate Parent. (Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/13/2023 21 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Third and Sixth Claims for Relief and Motion to Strike Portions of Complaint filed by Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. Motion set for hearing on 11/20/2023 at 09:00 AM before Judge Mark C. Scarsi. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Points and Authorities in support of Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike Portions of Complaint, # 2 Exhibit 1 in support of Memorandum of Points and Authorities, # 3 Proposed Order Granting Defendants Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike Portions of Complaint) (Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 10/13/2023)
10/30/2023 22 NOTICE OF NON-OPPOSITION to NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Third and Sixth Claims for Relief and Motion to Strike Portions of Complaint 21 and intent to file an amended complaint in accordance with FRCP 15(a)(1)(B) filed by Plaintiffs Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 10/30/2023)
11/03/2023 23 FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT against Defendants All Defendants amending Complaint (Attorney Civil Case Opening), 1 , filed by Plaintiff Rachel Pfeffer, Jessica Louise Thompson Smith, Liv Lee, Dirt Bike Kidz, Estellejoylynn(Attorney S Ryan Patterson added to party Rachel Pfeffer(pty:pla), Attorney S Ryan Patterson added to party Dirt Bike Kidz(pty:pla), Attorney S Ryan Patterson added to party Estellejoylynn(pty:pla), Attorney S Ryan Patterson added to party Jessica Louise Thompson Smith(pty:pla), Attorney S Ryan Patterson added to party Liv Lee(pty:pla))(Patterson, S) (Entered: 11/03/2023)
11/08/2023 24 MINUTES (IN CHAMBERS) by Judge Mark C. Scarsi: ORDER RE: MOTION TO DISMISS (ECF No. 21)Defendants Shein Distribution Corporation, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., andZoetop Business Company, Limited move to dismiss the Complaint of PlaintiffsKrista Perry, Larissa Martinez, and Jay Baron. (Mot., ECF No. 21.) The Court deems the motion appropriate for decision without oral argument and vacates the hearing set for November 20, 2023. After Defendants filed the motion, Plaintiffs signaled their intent to file a First Amended Complaint, (Notice of Non-Opp'n, ECF No. 22), which they ultimately filed as a matter of course, (FAC, ECF No. 23); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(l). The motion is denied as moot. The Court orders Plaintiffs to file a redline version of their amended pleading forthwith. (Initial Standing Order § 13, ECF No. 11.) (lc) (Entered: 11/08/2023)
11/08/2023 25 FOR COURT USE ONLY STATISTICAL CORRECTION re Minutes in chambers order taking motion under submission then denying as moot 24 motion to dismiss 21 (lc) (Entered: 11/08/2023)
11/09/2023 26 APPENDIX filed by Plaintiffs Jay Baron, Dirt Bike Kidz, Estellejoylynn, Liv Lee, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry, Rachel Pfeffer, Jessica Louise Thompson Smith. Re: Amended Complaint/Petition,, 23 Redline Version of First Amended Complaint (Erikson, David) (Entered: 11/09/2023)
11/10/2023 27 Joint STIPULATION for Extension of Time to File Response to First Amended Complaint and Amend Briefing Schedule filed by Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation, Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Ali Rabbani, # 2 Proposed Order)(Marenberg, Steven) (Entered: 11/10/2023)
07/13/2023 Summons was filed. SHEIN has 21 days to reply from the day they are served. I don't see proof of service filed yet. They will probably reply with "deny all" to all claims and only admit the name of their company.
UPDATE: There's a false rumor going around that this lawsuit will shut down SHEIN. :-D No, it will not. It's not a major lawsuit. It looks like a weak copyright, trademark lawsuit. SHEIN was sued a few times previously and settled the cases quickly. These are small time copyright, trademark issues.
If you look at other large fashion companies including competitors to SHEIN, they have many, many, many copyright and trademark lawsuits. It's part of the business. I have a feeling this rumor was probably started by the competitors of SHEIN. If I get the time, I will post the copyright lawsuits against the competitors of SHEIN. All of the things the competitors have accused SHEIN of, the competitors are actually guilty of. I listed the items in the previous article linked below.
UPDATE: The attorney who filed the lawsuit is the one who copyrighted the items contested in the lawsuit. This means there was no copyright when SHEIN allegedly offered the item for sale. One item had no copyright as it was rejected from the copyright office outright years ago. Here is but one for Krista Perry.
I'm searching here. https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
ORIGINAL: I just pulled up the actual SHEIN copyright infringement lawsuit. This is an intentionally messy shake down lawsuit. Anyone who reads it can clearly see someone went searching for plaintiffs with very old grievances just so they could file a lawsuit and make all these outrageous claims. Most of these claims are political and in line with the recent smear campaign by competitors by paid lobbyist SHUT DOWN SHEIN.
There is something in lawsuits called "litigation privilege." That means a party, attorney can make any defamatory statement they like in a lawsuit and never be sued for defamation. Plaintiffs clearly did this in this lawsuit throwing around totally unproven allegations. They used all the exact same defamatory statements by SHUT DOWN SHEIN paid lobbyist campaign in the lawsuit. I personally feel SHUT DOWN SHEIN is probably involved someway in this lawsuit. Here is an article I wrote about the SHUT DOWN SHEIN paid lobbyist campaign. https://marycumminsinvestigativereporter.blogspot.com/2023/05/us-retailers-fear-attack-successful.html
The most damning evidence that this is a shakedown lawsuit is that plaintiffs who are very, very small time "designers" filed for copyrights years after the alleged copyright infringement and immediately prior to filing the lawsuit. Lawsuit also states SHEIN offered the designers $500 to license their designs. It looks like some of the plaintiffs may have taken that offer because the suit states the offers did not come with legal releases. I'll post more on this later.
Small time copyright issues such as these are generally settled by contacting the website which the plaintiffs did. These plaintiffs don't pay $50,000 for a copyright attorney in the hopes of getting maybe $500 in licensing fees. You don't get copyright lawyers on contingency. Someone paid for this lawyer for them or the lawyer expects huge legal fees.
The main introduction for the lawsuit reads like the SHUT DOWN SHEIN website. It's almost verbatim, cut and paste, word for word. It even includes citations to some outrageous articles. The accusations are reckless and wild to the point that I won't repeat them. I don't think I should post the actual lawsuit for the same reasons. It contains a lot of Chinese hate speech. Changed my mind. Here it is. I won't add the text here in this blog article. Read the lawsuit and come to your own conclusions. There are suing for four claims of copyright infringement, one claim of trademark infringement and violation of RICO Act.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_mLby_Qt7QDuTuQFqlz95IX91tN8AM-/view?usp=sharing
The designs in question are very minor designs that were maybe on just a few very minor super cheap products. We're not talking Nike, Louis Vuitton, Gucci or Chanel type designs. These designs look like the work of an eight year old doodling. The one pattern actually looks like many other flower patterns I've seen for years. It looks like a copyright violation of someone else's pattern.
The designs are posted below under the fair use of copyright act. They are being discussed in an educational manner. This article is public commentary about these images which were captured as part of a paper legal filing which has litigation privilege. Part of the lawsuit is included in the images.
I believe SHEIN's argument that vendors load their designs, products to the SHEIN website to sell. I just visited their site and it's obvious there are many designers and individual stores. http://www.shein.com They're now more similar to Aliexpress than being one big regular store.
Krista Perry 68. “Make It Fun” is an original artwork first created by Perry in 2016, with its date of first publication September 1, 2018. Perry applied to the copyright office and received registration for the Artwork on May 1, 2023, with registration number VA 2-344-429."
This item is all over the internet sold by many different people such as Amazon, RedBubble, Etsy...Why not sue them too? At least SHEIN took it down. The others didn't. SHEIN can now argue that Plaintiffs were and still are being damaged by the other people still selling it. Very amateur design which would have been much easier to be inspired by but greatly improved upon. SHUT DOWN SHEIN campaign began April 2023. Copyrights filed April, May 2023? Hmm.
Here is the throw rug, blanket, towel thing. https://valleycruisepress.com/products/70s-floral-throw-blanket If you Google image search the throw, you will see it all over the internet. Why aren't they suing Etsy, Aliexpress,Urban Outfitters, Amazon and the hundreds of other sites selling it? I hope you can see this link.
https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:d0p5km.2.1
Larissa Blintz Martinez
https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=orange%20daisies&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=bmSrGLU3gwTyFUJeYjWR5CiKElgiM&SEQ=20230715201238&SID=9
There is a mechanism to report alleged copyright infringement. SHEIN does load thousands of new items per day. I again suggest they first run clear photos of the designs of any new items through Google image search to try to find the original source and see if it's copyrighted before they offer it for sale.
The items in the lawsuit were maybe not copyrighted when they were on the SHEIN website. That could be an issue. It looks like SHEIN removed them when alerted to the copyright claim. What then will be the damages? I'm not a copyright attorney. It looks like the attorney wants a big payday and publicity. I really think SHUT DOWN SHEIN is behind this. The speed in which the news spread is the work of a paid publicist like Chapin Fay of Actum who is behind SHUT DOWN SHEIN. I see no press release by the attorney. The timing for copyright notices and lawsuit coincide perfectly with the SHUT DOWN SHEIN campaign, i.e. SHUT DOWN SHEIN April 2023, copyrights April, May 2023, lawsuit filing July 2023. The lawsuit reads like it's part of the campaign.
All of the images, products are being sold by many, many other places online which I easily found with a Google image search. Looks like they've been there for years. I think statute of limitations for copyright is two years. The statute of limitations may have passed for their designs based on the lawsuit, copyright dates and other online items. While I was in Pacer I searched SHEIN. There have been some cases against SHEIN which were settled quickly. Maybe that will happen in this case.
I don't know who is doing media, press for SHEIN but they need better advice. Instead of taking the influencers to visit the factories they should have stayed quiet. That came off poorly as damage control. Silence would have been better. They should also disable Google image search of their website.
Below is the current docket. I'll try to check the docket for the reply.
shein 在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶被起诉侵犯版权
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Western Division - Los Angeles)
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 2:23-cv-05551-MCS-JPR
Krista Perry et al v. Shein Distribution Corporation et al
Assigned to: Judge Mark C. Scarsi
Referred to: Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth
Cause: 18:1961 Racketeering (RICO) Act
Date Filed: 07/11/2023
Jury Demand: Plaintiff
Nature of Suit: 470 Racketeer/Corrupt Organization
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Plaintiff
Krista Perry
an individual represented by David A. Erikson
Erikson Law Group
200 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323-465-3100
Fax: 323-465-3177
Email: david@daviderikson.com
Antoinette S. Waller
Erikson Law Group
200 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323-465-3100
Fax: 323-465-3177
Email: antoinette@daviderikson.com
Jeffrey S Gluck
Gluck Law Firm
16950 Via De Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
310-776-7413
Email: jeff@gluckip.com
Plaintiff
Larissa Martinez
an individual represented by David A. Erikson
Plaintiff
Jay Baron
an individual represented by David A. Erikson
V.
Defendant
Shein Distribution Corporation
a Delaware corporation
Defendant
Roadget Business Pte. Ltd
Defendant
Zoetop Business Company, Limited
Defendant
DOES
1-10, inclusive
Date Filed # Docket Text
07/11/2023 1 COMPLAINT Receipt No: ACACDC-35648032 - Fee: $402, filed by plaintiffs Krista Perry, Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez. (Attorney David A. Erikson added to party Jay Baron(pty:pla), Attorney David A. Erikson added to party Larissa Martinez(pty:pla), Attorney David A. Erikson added to party Krista Perry(pty:pla))(Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/11/2023 2 CIVIL COVER SHEET filed by Plaintiffs Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/11/2023 3 NOTICE of Interested Parties filed by Plaintiffs All Plaintiffs, (Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/11/2023 4 REPORT ON THE FILING OF AN ACTION regarding a copyright (Initial Notification) filed by Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/11/2023 5 REPORT ON THE FILING OF AN ACTION Regarding a Patent or a Trademark (Initial Notification) filed by Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/11/2023 6 Request for Clerk to Issue Summons on Complaint (Attorney Civil Case Opening), 1 filed by plaintiffs Jay Baron, Larissa Martinez, Krista Perry. (Erikson, David) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
07/13/2023 7 NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT to District Judge Mark C. Scarsi and Magistrate Judge Jean P. Rosenbluth. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 8 NOTICE TO PARTIES OF COURT-DIRECTED ADR PROGRAM filed. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 9 Notice to Counsel Re Consent to Proceed Before a United States Magistrate Judge. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 10 21 DAY Summons Issued re Complaint (Attorney Civil Case Opening), 1 as to Defendants Roadget Business Pte. Ltd, Shein Distribution Corporation and Zoetop Business Company, Limited. (jtil) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
07/13/2023 11 INITIAL STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES ASSIGNED TO JUDGE MARK C. SCARSI upon filing of the complaint by Judge Mark C. Scarsi. (smo) (Entered: 07/13/2023)
10. Plaintiff Krista Perry is an individual residing in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ms. Perry is a well-regarded and successful illustrator and designer living in Massachusetts. In 2015, she received an honors BFA in illustration from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Since then, Perry has created artwork for clients like Madewell, Nickelodeon, and Jameson Whiskey.
11. Plaintiff Larissa Martinez (aka Larissa Blintz) is an individual residing in Los Angeles County, California. Ms. Blintz is the CEO, creator, and owner of “Miracle Eye” a female-owned family-run small business, designing and fabricating ethically handmade-to-order clothing out of their workshop and store in Los Angeles.
12. Plaintiff Jay Baron is an individual residing in Los Angeles County, California. He is a well-regarded independent artist working between Burbank, California and Austin, Texas. He founded Retrograde Supply Co. when he was 18 and has amassed a large social media following, with his work featured in television, film, and 100+ independent retailers in the United States.
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