Case 1:19-cv-02431-PKC-SDA Document 366 Filed 11/15/23 Page 1 of 3
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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`ELOHIM EPF USA, INC.,
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`Plaintiff,
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`-against-
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`162 D & Y CORP. d/b/a Flower Karaoke, et al.,
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`Defendants.
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`CASTEL, U.S.D.J.
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` 19-cv-2431 (PKC)
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` ORDER
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`This Order invites plaintiff Elohim EPF USA, Inc. (“Elohim”) to file a letter-brief
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`responding to certain arguments raised in defendants’ post-trial memorandum. (See ECF 363 at
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`12-20; see also ECF 364 ¶¶ 212-51.) In their memorandum, defendants assert that certain
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`certificates of copyright registration filed by Elohim are invalid because they do not satisfy the
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`regulatory requirements promulgated for group copyright registrations. Specifically, “Bae A Pa
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`(Jealousy)” was one of ten songs listed in a single certificate filed by Elohim on December 19,
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`2013. (ECF 346-14.) Separately, the copyrights for the songs “So Cool,” “Push Push,” “Ni Kka
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`Jit Ge (How Dare You)” and “Ga Sik Geol (Shady Girl)” were filed in a single certificate of
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`registration filed by Elohim on December 29, 2013. (ECF 346-7.)
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`“A certificate of copyright registration is a prerequisite to asserting a civil
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`copyright infringement claim. Thus, without a valid copyright registration, a plaintiff cannot
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`bring a viable copyright infringement action.” Sohm v. Scholastic Inc., 959 F.3d 39, 52-53 (2d
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`Cir. 2020) (citing 17 U.S.C. § 411(a)). “[T]he Register of Copyrights is authorized by statute to
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`promulgate regulations which may ‘require or permit . . . a single registration for a group of
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`related works.’” Palmer/Kane LLC v. Rosen Book Works LLC, 204 F. Supp. 3d 565, 570
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`Case 1:19-cv-02431-PKC-SDA Document 366 Filed 11/15/23 Page 2 of 3
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`(S.D.N.Y. 2016) (Rakoff, J.) (quoting 17 U.S.C. § 408(c)(1)). The Copyright Office has
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`promulgated regulations that govern the group registration of defined categories of work. See 37
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`C.F.R. § 202.4. “Group registration carries important advantages for copyright holders, since it
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`requires only one fee to register multiple works, all of which are entitled to the § 410(c)
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`presumption of validity and all of which may be sued upon individually. Given the significant
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`advantages conferred by group registration, it follows that ‘compliance with the applicable
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`regulations should be strictly enforced.’” Palmer/Kane, 204 F. Supp. 3d at 570 (quoting 5
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`William F. Patry, Patry on Copyright § 17:92).
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`In 2013, at the time that Elohim filed its certificates of registration for “Bae A Pa
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`(Jealousy),” “So Cool,” “Push Push,” “Ni Kka Jit Ge (How Dare You)” and “Ga Sik Geol
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`(Shady Girl),” the regulation governing a group registration was codified at 37 C.F.R. § 202.3
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`(effective July 18, 2013). The regulation permitted group registration for certain defined
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`categories, including automated databases, related serials, daily newspapers, contributions to
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`periodicals, daily newsletters and published photographs. Id. § 202.3(b)(5)-(10). It did not
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`provide for the group registration of musical works. Approximately eight years later, in 2021, 37
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`C.F.R. § 202.4 was amended to permit the group registration of musical works on an album.
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`Separately, in 2013, multiple published works were eligible to be registered as a
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`single work if they “are included in a single unit of publication, and in which the copyright
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`claimant is the same.” 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(b)(4)(i)(A) (effective July 18, 2013). And the
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`Copyright Act grants protections to a compilation, 17 U.S.C. § 103, which “is a work formed by
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`the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or
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`arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of
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`authorship,” 17 U.S.C. § 101. Defendants urge that the record does not support a finding that the
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`Case 1:19-cv-02431-PKC-SDA Document 366 Filed 11/15/23 Page 3 of 3
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`above-identified compositions are eligible for copyright protection as part of a “single work”
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`registration or a compilation.
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`Elohim is invited to file a letter-brief no later than November 22, 2023 responding
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`to defendants’ arguments directed toward the validity of the certificates of registration for “Bae
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`A Pa (Jealousy),” “So Cool,” “Push Push,” “Ni Kka Jit Ge (How Dare You)” and “Ga Sik Geol
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`(Shady Girl).”
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`SO ORDERED.
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`_____________________________
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` P. Kevin Castel
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` United States District Judge
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`Dated: New York, New York
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`November 15, 2023
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