Bell v. Taylor

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants’ motions for summary judgment in copyright infringement action alleging that defendants displayed photo that belonged to plaintiff on their websites. Record showed that one defendant did not display photo as described in complaint, although defendant had displayed different photo owned by plaintiff, and Dist. Ct. could properly reject plaintiff’s argument that said defendant waived its wrong photo argument by failing to plead matter as affirmative defense in his answer. Moreover, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying plaintiff’s motion to file 4^th Amended Complaint to include correct photo, since plaintiff did not seek said amendment until 8 months after deadline for amending pleadings. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing on res judicata grounds, plaintiff’s subsequently filed copyright infringement action that concerned correct photo displayed by said defendant, where original lawsuit was properly dismissed, and where both actions concerned same subject matter. Fact that dismissal in original lawsuit was not final order for purposes of filing any appeal did not preclude finding that said order was final for purposes of applying res judicata. Additionally, Dist. Ct. correctly entered summary judgment with respect to other two defendants, where plaintiff had failed to demonstrate photo’s fair market value through evidence of actual sale of photo to third-party and had otherwise failed to establish any causal connection between defendants’ use of photo and any profits they made.