Amazon Content Services LLC et al v. Kiss Library et al, No. 2:2020cv01048 - Document 15 (W.D. Wash. 2020)
Court Description: ORDER granting Plaintiffs' 2 Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Authorizing Continued Expedited Discovery. The Preliminary Injunction shall remain in effect for the pendency of this litigation, unless otherwise dissolved by the Court. Signed by Judge Marsha J. Pechman. (LH)
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Amazon Content Services LLC et al v. Kiss Library et al Doc. 15 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 1 of 10 1 The Honorable Marsha J. Pechman 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 10 11 12 13 AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC, a Delaware corporation, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LLC, a Delaware corporation, LEE CHILD, SYLVIA DAY, JOHN GRISHAM, C.J. LYONS, DOUG PRESTON, JIM RASENBERGER, T.J. STILES, R.L. STINE, MONIQUE TRUONG, SCOTT TUROW, NICHOLAS WEINSTOCK, AND STUART WOODS, NO. 2:20-cv-01048 MJP ORDER ISSUING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND AUTHORIZING CONTINUED EXPEDITED DISCOVERY 14 Plaintiffs, 15 v. 16 17 18 19 20 KISS LIBRARY d/b/a KISSLY.NET, WTFFASTSPRING.BID, LIBLY.NET, and CHEAP-LIBRARY.COM, RODION VYNNYCHENKO, ARTEM BESSHAPOCHNY, JACK BROWN, and DOES 1-10, Defendants. 21 22 This matter comes before the Court on ex parte motion by Publishers Amazon Content 23 Services LLC and Penguin Random House LLC, and Authors Lee Child, Sylvia Day, John 24 Grisham, C.J. Lyons, Doug Preston, Jim Rasenberger, T.J. Stiles, R.L. Stine, Monique Truong, 25 Scott Turow, Nicholas Weinstock, and Stuart Woods (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) for an 26 Alternate Service Order, Expedited Discovery Order, a Temporary Restraining Order 27 (collectively, the “TRO”), and a Hearing for Defendants Kiss Library, Rodion Vynnychenko, PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 2 of 10 1 Artem Besshapochny, Jack Brown, and Does 1-10 (collectively, “Defendants”) to Show Cause 2 why the Court should not enter a Preliminary Injunction. 3 Seeking relief under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 4, 26, and 65, Plaintiffs 4 filed their Complaint and ex parte motion on July 8, 2020, which provided evidence showing 5 that Defendants are engaged in ongoing, widespread copyright infringement of Plaintiffs’ 6 works (the “Works”) through a ring of substantively identical mirror websites, including but 7 not limited to kissly.net, wtffastspring.bid, libly.net, and cheap-library.com (the “Websites”), 8 and other websites that redirected to those Websites such as kisslibraryemails.com. Dkts. 1-4. 9 On July 9, 2020, the Court issued its TRO and granted Plaintiffs’ requested relief, 10 including a temporary injunction, alternate service, and expedited discovery. Dkt. 10. That 11 same day, Plaintiffs served process through electronic means to Defendants’ email address, 12 contact@kisslibrary.com, providing notice of Plaintiffs’ Complaint, ex parte motion, and the 13 Court’s Order to Show Cause as to why a Preliminary Injunction should not issue. The Court 14 directed Defendants to file and serve any answering papers before 5:00 p.m. on August 14, 15 2020, and to appear at the show cause hearing on August 25, 2020, at 4:15 p.m. Dkt. 10 at 9. 16 On July 15, 2020, Plaintiffs posted a $10,000 bond with the Court Registry. Also 17 pursuant to the Court’s Order, Plaintiffs’ counsel filed a declaration on August 17, 2020, Dkt. 18 12, which provided evidence of service, confirmed restraint of Defendants’ Websites, including 19 kisslibrary.com, kisslibraryemails.com, kisslibrary.net, kissly.net, wtffastspring.bid, libly.net, 20 cheap-library.com, books.coffee, getebooks.net, booksgreatchoice.com, maximumbook.org, 21 bsebooks.com, bookspc.com, crucialbooks.com, osebooks.com, wordered.com, thekissly.net, 22 kisslibraryemails.net, quabook.com, and luckybooks.online, identified an unnamed Doe 23 Defendant, Ihor Kliman, and confirmed the restraint of Defendants’ assets associated with 24 email addresses roddiku@gmail.com, sofleadecen1987@mail.ru, kmytz@yandex.ru, 25 redoxyzo@gmail.com, jjpetruninas@gmail.com, robert.teifeld@gmail.com, and 26 dmitriy.chernyay@gmail.com. 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 2 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 3 of 10 1 The Court held its show cause hearing on August 25, 2020 at 4:15 p.m. through 2 teleconference means, to provide Defendants an opportunity to show cause as to why a 3 preliminary injunction should not be entered for the pendency of the litigation. Despite having 4 received notice of the hearing time, date, and call in numbers, Defendants did not appear at the 5 hearing or file any response to Plaintiffs’ papers or the Court’s Order. 6 7 8 The Court, having reviewed the Complaint, Plaintiffs’ motion, and all supporting declarations and exhibits, and having conducted a show cause hearing, finds as follows: 1. Plaintiffs have demonstrated they are entitled to immediate injunctive relief by 9 establishing (a) they are likely to succeed on the merits of their copyright claims, (b) they have 10 and are suffering irreparable injury in the absence of an injunction based on Defendants’ illegal 11 reproduction, display, and distribution of Plaintiffs’ Works, (c) the balance of hardships weighs 12 in Plaintiffs’ favor, and (d) the public interest favors granting injunctive relief; 13 14 15 2. With respect to likelihood of success on the merits, Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed in showing: a. which were registered before this action; 16 17 Plaintiffs are the exclusive and beneficial owners of copyrights in the Works, b. Defendants have engaged in direct copyright infringement of those Works 18 by reproducing, displaying, and distributing the Works for profit through the 19 Websites identified in the Complaint and in Plaintiffs’ supplemental papers 20 and declarations, see Dkt. 12; 21 c. Defendants have induced, caused, and materially contributed to others’ 22 infringement of those Works, through the intentional solicitation, 23 facilitation, and ability to control and supervise others’ upload of the 24 infringed Works on the Websites for profit; 25 d. As a result of Defendants’ conduct, third-party purchasers have also 26 impermissibly copied Plaintiffs’ protected works, further infringing 27 Plaintiffs’ rights in those Works; PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 3 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 4 of 10 e. 1 infringing activity; and 2 f. 3 At a minimum, Defendants acted with willful blindness to, or in reckless disregard of, Plaintiffs’ registered copyrights and exclusive rights. 4 5 Defendants knew of and intentionally contributed to and furthered the 3. The reproduction, display, and distribution of Plaintiffs’ Works will result in 6 immediate and irreparable injury to Plaintiffs’ reputations, prospective and current customers, 7 goodwill, negotiating positions, distribution arrangements, and other intangible assets, if the 8 existing injunctive relief is not continued for the duration of this litigation; 9 10 11 12 13 4. Plaintiffs’ harm from denying the requested continued injunctive relief would outweigh any harm to Defendants’ legitimate interests from granting such relief; 5. It is in the public’s interest to protect Plaintiffs’ copyrights and enjoin unauthorized distribution of their Works; 6. With regard to the need for injunctive relief to secure assets without notice and 14 expedited discovery to discover Defendants’ identities and assets, the Court finds Plaintiffs 15 have provided evidence showing: 16 a. Defendants have gone to great lengths to conceal their identities, locations, 17 and proceeds from Plaintiffs’ and this Court’s detection, including using 18 multiple false identities and addresses associated with their operations and 19 purposely-deceptive contact information; 20 b. Library appears to communicate solely through email; and 21 22 At least some of the Defendants are likely overseas and Defendant Kiss c. Defendants would likely destroy, move, hide, or otherwise make 23 inaccessible the proceeds of their infringement, copies of infringed Works, 24 and the Websites used to display and distribute those Works, to the Court 25 and Plaintiffs if they received advance notice, thus frustrating the ultimate 26 relief Plaintiffs seek in this action. 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 4 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 5 of 10 1 7. Entry of an order other than the requested Order would not adequately achieve 2 the purposes of the Copyright Act to preserve Plaintiffs’ equitable remedies for copyright 3 infringement, including among other things: the restraint of Defendants’ unauthorized sale and 4 distribution of Plaintiffs’ Works, including through Defendants’ Websites, the acquisition of 5 business records relating to Defendants’ operations, and the preservation of Plaintiffs’ right to 6 an equitable accounting of proceeds from Defendants’ sale of Plaintiffs’ Works; 7 8. Defendants received notice and service of process through electronic means of 8 Plaintiffs’ Complaint, ex parte Motion, the Court’s TRO and Order to Show Cause as to why a 9 Preliminary Injunction should not be issued, and the time and location of the show cause 10 11 hearing. 9. Defendants have failed to respond to the Court’s Orders as directed, dispute 12 Plaintiffs’ claims, evidence, or requested relief, or appear at proceedings, despite having 13 received adequate notice. 14 15 THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Defendants and their associated assets are hereby enjoined as follows: 16 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 17 IT APPEARING to the Court that Defendants are reproducing, displaying, distributing, 18 offering for sale, and/or selling Plaintiffs’ Works through their Websites, and will continue to 19 carry out such acts unless restrained by Order of the Court, it is hereby: 20 ORDERED, Defendants, including their agents, servants, employees, confederates, and 21 any persons acting in concert or participation with them or third parties providing services used 22 in connection with Defendants’ operations including, without limitation, payment processors, 23 banking or financial institutions, cryptocurrency processors, email providers, domain registrars 24 or hosts, Internet service providers, back-end service providers, affiliate program providers, 25 web designers, search engine or ad-word providers, and online business-to-business selling 26 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 5 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 6 of 10 1 platforms having received notice of this Order by service, actual notice or otherwise be, and 2 are, hereby RESTRAINED from: 3 4 5 6 7 (a) Directly infringing Plaintiffs’ Works by reproducing, displaying, distributing, offering for sale, or selling Plaintiffs’ Works; (b) Inducing, causing, or materially contributing to the infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrights; (c) Moving, destroying, or otherwise disposing of any items, merchandise, or 8 documents relating to the reproduction, distribution, or sale of Plaintiffs’ Works, Defendants’ 9 Websites, and/or Defendants’ assets and operations; and 10 (d) Removing, destroying or otherwise disposing of any computer files, electronic 11 files, business records, or documents relating to Defendants’ Websites, Defendants’ assets and 12 operations, or relating in any way to the distribution or sale of Plaintiffs’ Works, or any 13 reproduction of Plaintiffs’ Works; and it is further 14 15 ORDERED, that the Preliminary Injunction shall remain in effect for the pendency of this litigation, unless otherwise dissolved by the Court. 16 EX PARTE ASSET RESTRAINT 17 ORDERED, that in accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 502(a) and this Court’s inherent 18 equitable power to issue provisional remedies ancillary to its authority to provide final 19 equitable relief, Defendants and their officers, servants, employees, agents and any persons in 20 active concert or participation with them, and any banks, savings and loan associations, 21 payment processors or other financial institutions, including without limitation, FastSpring, 22 PayPal, BitPay, MasterCard, or other merchant account providers, payment providers, third 23 party payment processors or credit card associations for Defendant Kiss Library and its 24 Websites, or for any other website owned or controlled by Defendants, who receive actual 25 notice of this Order, shall immediately locate all accounts connected to Defendants or the 26 Websites, and that such accounts be temporarily restrained and enjoined from transferring or 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 6 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 7 of 10 1 disposing of any money or other of Defendants’ assets, not allowing such funds to be 2 transferred or withdrawn; and it is further 3 ORDERED, that in accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 502(a) and this Court’s inherent 4 equitable power to issue provisional remedies ancillary to its authority to provide final 5 equitable relief, the domain name registries, service providers, or resellers, including but not 6 limited to Cloudflare, Tucows Domains Inc., Whois Privacy Corp., Name Cheap, Inc., 1337 7 Services LLC, NameSilo, LLC, Web.com, White & Case, and Pork Bun LLC, and/or the 8 individual registrars holding or listing one or more of the domain names used in conjunction 9 with the Websites shall, within three (3) days of receipt of this Order, temporarily disable these 10 domain names, or any subset of these domain names specified by Plaintiffs, through a registry 11 hold or otherwise, and make them inactive and non-transferable pending further order from this 12 Court, unless Plaintiffs request that particular domain names be released from such restraints; 13 and it is further 14 ORDERED, that any third party providing services in connection with Defendants’ 15 Websites, including without limitation, providers of email services, social media services, 16 online content management services, search engine and/or Internet advertising services, search 17 engine optimization services, and Internet service providers, back-end service providers, 18 affiliate program providers, web designers, and search engine or ad-word providers, any banks, 19 savings and loan associations, cryptocurrency processor, payment processors or other financial 20 institutions, including without limitation, FastSpring, PayPal, BitPay, MasterCard, or other 21 merchant account providers, payment providers, third party payment processors or credit card 22 associations, shall immediately temporarily disable service to any and all Websites and 23 associated agents. 24 EXPEDITED DISCOVERY 25 IT APPEARING to the Court that Plaintiffs have engaged in reasonable but fruitless 26 efforts to uncover Defendants’ identities and locations, and that third parties have information 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 7 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 8 of 10 1 relevant to the identities of Defendant Kiss Library’s owners, operators, and associates it is 2 hereby: ORDERED, that discovery by Plaintiffs may continue by Plaintiffs providing actual 3 4 notice, pursuant to subpoena or otherwise, of this Order to any of the following: 5 (1) Defendants, their agents, servants, employees, confederates, attorneys, and any persons 6 acting in concert or participation with them; (2) any banks, savings and loan associations, 7 cryptocurrency processor, payment processors or other financial institutions, including without 8 limitation, FastSpring, PayPal, BitPay, MasterCard, or other merchant account providers, 9 payment providers, third-party payment processors or credit card associations, which receive 10 payments or hold assets on Defendants’ behalf; and (3) third party service providers, including 11 without limitation, domain registrars, support providers, or resellers like Cloudflare, Tucows 12 Domains Inc., Whois Privacy Corp., Name Cheap, Inc., 1337 Services LLC, NameSilo, LLC, 13 Web.com, White & Case, and Pork Bun LLC , and online B2B selling platforms, domain name 14 registration privacy protection services, providers of email services, social media services, 15 online content management services, search engine and/or Internet advertising services, search 16 engine optimization services, and Internet service providers, back-end service providers, 17 affiliate program providers, web designers, search engine or ad-word providers, shippers, and 18 any domain name registries and registrars who have provided services for Defendants; and it is 19 further 20 ORDERED, that any third party providing services in connection with any Defendant or 21 Website, including without limitation those listed above, shall within five (5) days after receipt 22 of such notice, provide copies of all documents and records in such person or entity’s 23 possession or control relating to: 24 (a) The identities and addresses (physical and email) of Defendants, their agents, 25 servants, employees, confederates, and any persons acting in concert or participation with them 26 and the locations and identities of Defendants’ operations, including without limitation, 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 8 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 9 of 10 1 identifying information associated with Defendants’ Websites, assets, and financial accounts, 2 and the sale of Plaintiffs’ Works; 3 (b) The Websites; and 4 (c) Any financial accounts owned or controlled by Defendants, including their 5 agents, servants, employees, confederates, attorneys, and any persons acting in concert or 6 participation with them, including such accounts residing with or under the control of any 7 banks, savings and loan associations, cryptocurrency processor or wallet, payment processors 8 or other financial institutions, including without limitation, FastSpring, PayPal, BitPay, 9 MasterCard, or other merchant account providers, payment providers, third party processors, or 10 credit card associations. 11 12 SO ORDERED this _27th_ day of August, 2020. 13 A 14 15 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Presented by: DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP Attorneys for Amazon Content Services LLC, Penguin Random House LLC, Lee Child, Sylvia Day, John Grisham, C.J. Lyons, Doug Preston, Jim Rasenberger, T.J. Stiles, R.L. Stine, Monique Truong, Scott Turow, Nicholas Weinstock, and Stuart Woods By s/ John A. Goldmark John A. Goldmark, WSBA #40980 Caesar Kalinowski, WSBA #52650 920 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3300 Seattle, WA 98104-1610 Telephone: 206-622-3150 Email: JohnGoldmark@dwt.com CaesarKalinowski@dwt.com PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 9 Case 2:20-cv-01048-MJP Document 15 Filed 08/27/20 Page 10 of 10 1 2 3 4 Elizabeth A. McNamara (pro hac vice) 1251 Avenue of the Americas 21st Floor New York, NY 10020-1104 Telephone: 212-489-8230 Email: LizMcNamara@dwt.com 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION & EXPEDITED DISCOVERY ORDER (No. 2:20-cv-01048) 10
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