tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12505562.post5910416749946110374..comments2024-03-15T11:42:21.265-04:00Comments on The Patry Copyright Blog: Pre-Trial Forfeiture in Copyright casesWilliam Patryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987498082479617363noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12505562.post-58889691745537451912008-01-10T20:46:00.000-05:002008-01-10T20:46:00.000-05:00After a Motion for Reconsideration was filed, whic...After a Motion for Reconsideration was filed, which demonstrated exigent circumstances warranting the relief sought the court granted the pre-judgment attachment although for a lesser quantity.LBFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08348175671722053947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12505562.post-24935302309046724512007-07-27T11:57:00.000-04:002007-07-27T11:57:00.000-04:00Thanks for you very comprehensice comment LKB. I t...Thanks for you very comprehensice comment LKB. I thought the case would be of interest to you given the architectural works angle.William Patryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12987498082479617363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12505562.post-3032055874350561922007-07-27T11:45:00.000-04:002007-07-27T11:45:00.000-04:00A few comments:(1) From my reading of the opinion...A few comments:<BR/><BR/>(1) From my reading of the opinion, the case involved nothing more than a garden-variety attempt to obtain pre-judgment attachment and/or garnishment of property. Requests for such relief are not that unusual (heck, you can theoretically get them in any case where you're seeking monetary damages), but always are a very tough remedy to get a court to grant. (Given the extraordinary nature of the relief, the high burden on the party seeking it is probably not a bad thing.)<BR/><BR/>I don't know Puerto Rician law, but if it's anything like laws of most states on the point, I think the Court nailed it. Pre-judgment attachment / sequestration / garnishment / asset freezes / etc. are going to require a showing of exceptional circumstances and need, and those just don't appear to have been presented on this record. (I'm not saying that such relief could not / should not be granted in that case, just that it doesn't appear that the plaintiff made anywhere near the evidentiary showing required to get it.)<BR/><BR/>(2) Having said that, this sort of prejudgment relief *has* been granted in AWCPA (architectural copyright) cases. In one of my cases (Patrick Berrios Designs v. Arthur Monroe Construction et al., No. 05-cv-03633 (S.D.Tx.)), the defendants sold the house at issue during the lawsuit under very unusual and suspicious circumstances. The Court granted my emergency motion for a preliminary injunction freezing the proceeds of the sale and requiring the defendant to immediately account for them. (See docket #27 on the PACER records of this case.)<BR/><BR/>Ultimately, after the defendants failed to comply with numerous other pretrial orders, they were ordered (8/29/06 minute entry) to pay almost $200,000 of sale proceeds into the registry of the Court on pain of contempt (quite literally, a very frustrated judge told them that if the money wasn't in the registry by the end of the week, folks were going to jail). <BR/><BR/>(Coda: virtually all of the seized funds were ultimately released to my client pursuant to a settlement agreement.)<BR/><BR/>Again, however, this was a very extreme case. To understand how unusual it was, check out this recent press story on what happened to the house a few weeks after the copyright case was settled, as well as the fate of many of the people involved:<BR/><BR/>http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5503965<BR/><BR/>Not your average copyright infringers, thank goodness.<BR/><BR/>(3) My experience is that getting this sort of relief in a copyright case is no different than in any other civil case: you'd better have *very* compelling evidence of why it is necessary, and be prepared to post a substantial bond. (In a non-copyright cases I've handled, the bond for prejudgment asset seizures / freezes have been as much as $1 million.) <BR/><BR/>LKB in HoustonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com