Copyright Complaint Re Product Descriptions in URL

CASE 0:18-cv-00232-JRT-HB Document 6 Filed 05/14/18 Page 1 of 26
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
)
FurnitureDealer.net, Inc. ) Civil Case No.: 0:18-cv-00232 (JRT/FLN)
)
Plaintiffs, )
) FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
vs. ) (Copyright Infringement)
)
Amazon.com, Inc., and )
COA, Inc. dba Coaster ) JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
Company of America )
)
Defendants. )
Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.net, Inc., as and for its Complaint against Defendants
Amazon.com, Inc., and COA, Inc. dba Coaster Company of America states and alleges as
follows:
PARTIES
1. Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.net, Inc. (“FurnitureDealer.Net”) is a Minnesota
corporation with its principle place of business in Burnsville, Minnesota.
2. On information and belief, Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon.com”)
is a Delaware corporation with its principle place of business in Seattle, Washington.
3. On information and belief, Defendant COA, Inc. dba Coaster Company of
America is a California corporation with its principle place of business in Santa Fe
Springs, California.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
4. This Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction of this action under 28
U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) in that this is an action for, without limitation: (i) copyright
infringement arising under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.; and (ii)
unauthorized and improper alteration or removal of copyright management information in
violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 1202 et seq. This Court has supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1367(a) over the related claims of breach of contract and common law unjust
enrichment.
5. This Court also has subject matter jurisdiction over Defendants pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1332. Plaintiff and Defendants are each citizens of different states, and the
amount in controversy far exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs.
6. Venue is appropriate in this judicial district under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b) and
1400(a).
JURY DEMAND
7. Plaintiff requests a jury trial for all issues so triable.
BACKGROUND FACTS
8. Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.Net creates, produces and manages full-service
internet marketing solutions for the home furnishings industry. Without limitation,
FurnitureDealer.Net creates, designs, manages and markets over eight hundred and fifty
(850) home furnishings websites. This includes authoring and creating original content
for use on such sites. Accordingly, one of FurnitureDealer.Net’s most valuable assets is
its original product content library consisting of, without limitation, copyright protected
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and search engine optimized descriptive text (“Content Library”). Such Content Library
is stored in an automated database which is utilized to populate the websites of
FurnitureDealer.Net’s clients.
9. United States Federal Certificate of Registration No. TXu 2-065-062 was
issued by the Register of Copyrights effective September 22, 2015 and confers
registration of FurnitureDealer.Net’s automated database, including, without limitation,
its Content Library, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 102(a)(5). The Certificate of Registration is
attached to this Complaint as Exhibit A.
10. Without limitation, FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library includes original
and search engine optimized descriptive text covering FurnitureDealer.Net’s longtime
customer COA, Inc. dba Coaster Company of America’s (“Coaster”) catalog.
11. FurnitureDealer.Net owns all rights, title and interest, including all
intellectual property rights, in the original descriptive text it authored, created and
maintained for Coaster and which is included in its Content Library pursuant to well
established copyright law and the contract entered between FurnitureDealer.Net and
Coaster on or about February 29, 2010 (“Coaster Agreement”).
12. Pursuant to the Coaster Agreement, FurnitureDealer.Net’s Coaster material
is authorized and licensed to be used solely and exclusively with: i) Coaster’s own
website created and managed by FurntureDealer.Net; and ii) websites of Coaster
authorized dealers who entered into their own separate licensing agreement with
FurnitureDealer.Net.
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13. The Coaster agreement contains tight restrictions on Coaster’s use of
FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library. Without limitation, the agreement expressly
prohibits Coaster from selling, licensing, sharing, copying or giving away any of
FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library to any third party.
14. Lacking any permission or authority, FurnitureDealer.Net’s original
Coaster content began appearing on Amazon.com URLs to promote and sell Coaster
furniture. FurnitureDealer.Net conducted an initial investigation which revealed
voluminous separate Amazon.com URLs containing infringing Coaster material
misappropriated and copied from FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library without
authorization
15. What followed was a frustrating and futile effort by FurnitureDealer.Net to
get Amazon.com and Coaster to respect FurnitureDealer.Net’s intellectual property rights
and voluntarily pull down and discontinue use of the infringing material.
16. FurnitureDealer.Net repeatedly notified Amazon.com and Coaster of such
unauthorized and infringing use of its Content Library. Amazon.com and Coaster have
blatantly ignored and failed to comply with FurnitureDealer.Net’s requests. Despite
having full knowledge of FurnitureDealer.Net’s rights, Amazon.com and Coaster have
intentionally continued to infringe upon and directly profit from FurnitureDealer.Net’s
original copyright protected material.
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Amazon.com’s Failure to Comply with FurnitureDealer.Net’s

DMCA Take Down Requests
17. FurnitureDealer.Net originally believed Amazon.com was acting solely as a
passive host or internet service provider for other third party resellers. Accordingly,
FurnitureDealer.Net submitted a written takedown request to copyright@amazon.com
pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) on February 25, 2016.
18. Such take down request was pursuant to and consistent with both the
DMCA and Amazon.com’s own “Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright
Infringement.” FurnitureDealer.Net provided a detailed description of the copyrighted
work infringed upon to make it very easy for Amazon.com to identify and take down the
infringing sites.
19. Specifically, FurnitureDealer.Net provided a separate spreadsheet
identifying three hundred ninety four (394) representative examples of Amazon.com
URLs containing infringing content. The spreadsheet included: (i) a side by side
comparison of the infringing text found at the infringing URLs and the corresponding
FurnitureDealer.Net original text; (ii) the furniture manufacturer’s name (in this case all
the sites involved Coaster branded furniture); (iii) the title or name of the subject Coaster
furniture piece; (iv) a link to the actual infringing URLs; and (v) a link to
FurnitureDealer.Net controlled and managed sites containing the corresponding
FurnitureDealer.Net authorized descriptive text.
20. Amazon.com acknowledged receipt of the take down request via an
automated e-mail response dated February 25, 2016. Amazon.com’s automated response
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included a link to the Amazon.com “Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of
Copyright Infringement” already complied with by FurnitureDealer.Net.
21. Despite fully complying with both the DMCA and Amazon.com
procedures, FurnitureDealer.Net received a second follow-up e-mail from Amazon.com
on February 26, 2016 indicating Amazon.com was “unable to accurately identify the
items you reference in your correspondence.” FurnitureDealer.Net was advised to “[c]ut
and paste the direct link to each item in the email.”
22. Amazon.com’s response was frustrating considering FurnitureDealer.Net
had already provided a detailed spreadsheet containing: (i) active links to three hundred
ninety four (394) representative infringing URLs; and (ii) an actual copy of the infringing
descriptive text found at such sites.
23. Amazon.com’s February 26, 2016 email expressly condoned the
submission of multiple instances of infringement in the same notice. (“If there is more
than one instance of the item, or similar works that you claim to infringe on your
copyright, please provide identifying information for each, but you may include them all
in one notice.”)
24. Despite having previously provided the requested information,
FurnitureDealer.Net complied with Amazon.com’s request and pasted the infringing
URLs directly into a responsive email dated February 26, 2016. FurnitureDealer.Net also
provided and attached courtesy copies of: (i) its original DMCA takedown notice; (ii) the
original detailed spreadsheet containing the very information requested; and (iii)
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Amazon.com’s February 26, 2016 e-mail requesting that the infringing URLs be pasted
directly into an email.
25. Amazon.com acknowledged receipt of FurnitureDealer.Net’s second notice
and request by way of email dated February 27, 2016. However, rather than taking any
action, Amazon.com advised for the first time that “when submitting notices of copyright
infringement, please identify the exact copyright protected material you claim is being
used by third parties on Amazon.com, such as the specific image or text in question.”
26. Amazon.com’s response ignored the fact that the very information it was
requesting had already been provided on two separate occasions. Amazon.com also
ignored the fact it had previously requested only that the infringing URLs be pasted
directly into an email, which FurnitureDealer.Net complied with.
27. Setting aside its frustration, FurnitureDealer.Net responded by way of email
dated February 29, 2016 and explained that each of its prior two requests had in fact
identified with detail specific FurnitureDealer.Net copyright protected descriptive text
being infringed upon. FurnitureDealer.Net again included courtesy copies of the subject
spreadsheet and its prior requests/communications.
28. In response, FurnitureDealer.Net received the identical automated
responsive email previously received in response to its initial DMCA takedown notice.
The email acknowledged receipt of what was now FurnitureDealer.Net’s third takedown
request and referred FurnitureDealer.Net to the same “Notice and Procedure for Making
Claims of Copyright Infringement” FurnitureDealer.Net had already complied with. The
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email also promised that a “response was forthcoming”, and that Amazon.com would
contact FurnitureDealer.Net if “additional information is required.” No additional
communications or responses were received from Amazon.com. Moreover, the
infringing material was not taken down, including remaining on the identified sites.
29. Having received no relief or response to its February 29, 2016 email,
FurnitureDealer.Net sent follow-up correspondence via Federal Express to
Amazon.com’s Legal Department dated April 1, 2016. The correspondence noted that:
(i) FurnitureDealer.Net had fully complied with both the DMCA and Amazon.com’s
independent policies and procedures; (ii) had patiently responded to Amazon.com’s
specific requests; and (iii) Amazon.com had failed to take any steps to take down the
infringing material. FurnitureDealer.Net’s April 1, 2016 correspondence again requested
that Amazon.com immediately take down the infringing content. FurnitureDealer.Net
enclosed a courtesy copy of its original February 25, 2016 take down request, including
the spreadsheet containing relevant detailed information.
Amazon.com’s Claim That Coaster Provided Permission to Use

FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library
30. FurnitureDealer.Net received Amazon.com’s first substantive response via
email dated April 5, 2016. Amazon.com alleged that it had received the infringing
content from Coaster. Specifically, Amazon.com “Copyright/Trademark Agent” Chad
Bundy contended, “. . .[T]he advertised items as well as the listed item descriptions are
supplied to Amazon.com by the product manufacturers themselves. Please confirm that
your client is not receiving the same item descriptions from the manufacturers.”
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31. FurnuitureDealer.Net responded to Amazon.com’s request via email dated
April 6, 2016. FurnitureDealer.Net explained: (i) “[A]s previously advised,
FurnitureDealer.Net creates, designs, manages and markets over 850 home furnishings
websites. This includes authoring and creating original descriptive text for use on such
sites.”; (ii) “The subject infringing descriptive text complained about relates solely and
exclusively to Coaster Company of America products (“Coaster”).”; (iii) “Coaster is a
longstanding customer of FurnitureDealer.Net [and] FurnitureDealer.Net designed and
manage[d] Coaster’s website located at www.coasterfurniture.com.; (iv) “As part of this
relationship, FurnitureDealer.Net authored and owns the descriptive text previously
identified to Amazon;” and (v) “Such original descriptive text is utilized to promote and
sell Coaster products at multiple FurnitureDealer.Net managed websites.
32. FurntureDealer.Net also contacted Coaster's Vice President of Marketing,
Toby Konetzny who confirmed FurnitureDealer.Net’s ownership of the subject Coaster
material and denied Coaster ever granted Amazon.com or any other retailer, including
any retailers associated with the infringing Amazon sites, permission to copy or use any
of FurnitureDealer.Net’s Coaster material.
33. FurnitureDealer.Net advised Amazon.com that Coaster confirmed
FurnitureDealer.Net’s ownership of the subject Coaster material and denied giving
Amazon.com permission or authority to use such content.
34. FurnitureDealer.Net also reminded and notified Amazon.com that every
single product page of the FurnitureDealer.Net managed Coaster website
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(www.coasterfurniture.com) contained a copyright notice identifying FurnitureDealer.Net
as the copyright owner of the subject content. Such notice alerted users - in at least two
(2) places - that "Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit
permission." FurnitureDealer.Net provided Amazon.com with the following sample
notice:
35. FurnitureDealer.Net demanded Amazon.com, to the extent it was relying on
any purported express permission to copy, reproduce, display, or publish
FurnitureDealer.Net’s copyright protected content, to disclose and provide the identity
and contact information for the entity or person purported to have provided such
authority.
36. Lastly, FurnitureDealer.Net again noted that such unauthorized and
infringing use of its content at voluminous unauthorized Amazon.com sites continued to
cause significant damage to FurnitureDealer.Net. Without limitation,
FurnitureDealer.Net explained that it tightly controls and limits the use and distribution
of its original descriptive text in order to maximize the search engine optimization and
organic rankings associated with its clients’ sites. The unauthorized placement of
FurnitureDealer.Net’s original text on hundreds of Amazon.com sites dilutes and
negatively impacts SEO rankings and website traffic for FurnitureDealer.Net’s paying
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clients’ websites. FurnitureDealer.Net again requested that Amazon immediately
takedown the specified postings.
37. Amazon.com responded via an email dated April 8, 2016 from Mr. Bundy.
Mr. Bundy reiterated Amazon.com’s allegation that the subject content had been
provided by Coaster. Bundy also alleged Coaster was claiming ownership in all the
material it allegedly provided to Amazon.com. Mr. Bundy attempted to put the burden
for resolving the alleged conflict on FurnitureDealer.Net. Mr. Bundy wrote:
“We have confirmed that the content on Amazon.com relating to Coaster

Company of America's ("Coaster") products was provided by Coaster.
Further to the matter, we reached out to Coaster's Vice President of
Marketing, Toby Konetzny, who confirmed that Coaster owns all the rights
to the data provided to Amazon.com. At this time there appears to be
conflicting claims of ownership with regards to the content at issue. It
seems most prudent for this matter to be resolved directly between
FurnitureDealer.net and Coaster. Should a resolution between the two
parties be reached please let us know and we will take appropriate action.”
Amazon.com Admits it is Profiting from Direct Sales of Coaster Furniture
38. FurnitureDealer.Net responded by way of email dated April 12, 2016.
FurntureDealer.Net noted that Amazon.com’s actions and responses to date indicated it
was not acting solely as a passive internet service provider (“ISP”) for third party
resellers with respect to the infringing content. FurnitureDealer.Net noted that
Amazon.com appeared to be acting as an active retailer or direct seller and utilizing
FurnitureDealer.Net’s copyright protected content to profit from the direct sale of Coaster
products. FurntureDealer.Net noted that such actions constituted direct copyright
infringement.
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39. FurnitureDealer.Net explained that to the extent Amazon.com was acting as
an ISP for other third party sellers, Amazon.com had failed to comply with its DMCA
obligations. Without limitation, Amazon.com had not taken down the properly identified
infringing content and had failed to provide a valid or proper “Counter-Notice” received
from any responsible third parties.
40. A proper Counter-Notice would have provided FurnitureDealer.Net with:
(i) a signature from the responsible third party; (ii) a statement under penalty of perjury
that such third party has a good faith belief in its claimed right to post the subject
material; (iii) the third party’s name, address, and telephone number; and (iv) if the third
party’s address is outside of the United States, an acknowledgment that it consents to
jurisdiction in U.S. federal court and that such third party will accept service of process
from the DMCA claimant or its agent.
41. FurntureDealer.Net noted that to the extent Amazon.com was acting as an
ISP with respect to the infringing content being utilized by third party resellers, Amazon
had lost its DMCA provided “safe harbor” or immunity to infringement claims.
42. In an effort to avoid any potential miscommunication or mix-up,
FurnitureDealer.Net’s April 12, 2016 email sought a telephone conference with
Amazon.com. It explained, “FurntureDealer.Net is the author and owner of the subject
descriptive text. Coaster has expressly acknowledged and confirmed
FurnitureDealer.Net's owns such text. Accordingly, Amazon's claims to the contrary are
false and puzzling. In an effort to avoid any potential misunderstanding and confusion,
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and in the hopes of mitigating further ongoing damage to FurnitureDealer.Net, I would
like to have a telephone conference to discuss this matter. Please let me know your
availability. Thank you.”
43. Having received no substantive response to its April 12, 2016 email,
FurnitureDealer.Net sent a follow-up correspondence reiterating its claims and requests
via Federal Express to Amazon.com’s Legal Department on April 22, 2016.
44. Amazon.com responded by way of email dated April 26, 2006 from Mr.
Bundy. Mr. Bundy confirmed Amazon.com was not acting as an ISP but rather was
using the infringing content as a direct seller of Coaster furniture. Mr. Bundy again
alleged Coaster owned the subject content and attempted to put the burden on
FurnitureDealer.Net to resolve the alleged conflict. He wrote:
“As the detail pages at issue are items "sold by Amazon.com," the alleged
infringement is not subject to the DMCA. We have communicated with
our vendor who has confirmed ownership of the copyrighted content in
question. Amazon.com encourages you to work directly with Coaster
Company of America to resolve the issue. Should you reach a resolution in
your client's favor, Amazon.com will take appropriate action.”
Coaster Provides Express Written Confirmation Refuting Amazon.com’s

Alleged Authority – Amazon.com Continues to Infringe
45. FurnitureDealer.Net again reached out to Coaster who again denied
authorizing Amazon.com to utilize FurnitureDealer.Net’s copyright protected content.
FurnitureDealer.Net advised Amazon.com of this fact by way of correspondence via
Federal Express to Amazon.com’s legal department dated May 19, 2016.
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46. Amazon.com responded by way of a brand new cryptic email dated May
21, 2016. Such email implicitly acknowledged the alleged infringing activity but
indicated Amazon.com was unable to stop it:
“Based on the information you provided in your intellectual property rights

infringement complaint, we are unable to remove the listings that you noted
on these detail pages. When a detail page is created, it becomes a
permanent catalog page on Amazon.com that will remain even if the
creator's inventory sells out. Other sellers can list their items for sale
against pages that you have created provided that the items are the same.”
47. FurnitureDealer.Net subsequently obtained written correspondence from
Coaster’s in-house counsel dated June 9, 2016 acknowledging FurnitureDealer.Net is the
author and owner of the original copyright protected content being utilized by
Amazon.com to promote and sell Coaster furniture and confirming Coaster at no time
provided Amazon.com authority to copy or use such FurnitureDealer.Net content for any
purpose. FurnitureDealer.Net forwarded such correspondence via Federal Express to
Amazon.com’s legal department on June 16, 2016.
48. FurnitureDealer.Net received an automated response to its June 16, 2016
correspondence. Amazon.com never provided a substantive response to such
correspondence. Moreover, Amazon.com has never stopped using FurnitureDealer.Net’s
original and copyright protected content. Rather, both Amazon.com and Coaster have
continued to profit from the intentional and willful infringement of FurnitureDealer.Net’s
copyright protected content.
49. Contrary to Coaster’s repeated denials that it gave Amazon permission or
authority to use FurnitureDealer.Net’s copyright protected content, FurnitureDealer.Net
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recently learned that Coaster was personally responsible for loading some or virtually all
of the subject FurnitureDealer.Net Coaster material into Amazon.com’s system for use
with Amazon detail pages.
50. Also contrary to Coaster’s repeated denials, FurnitureDealer.Net recently
learned that Coaster has not requested or demanded Amazon.com to stop using and
takedown FurnitureDealer.Net’s copyright protected Coaster material. Based on these
new revelations, FurnitureDealer.Net now suspects Coaster was also directly and actively
involved in and responsible for prior infringements by other third parties.
51. Amazon.com’s and Coaster’s wrongful and infringing conduct has
damaged and will continue to damage FurnitureDealer.Net.
52. Upon information and belief, Amazon.com and Coaster intend to continue
their course of conduct and to wrongfully copy, use, display, publish, infringe upon, sell,
and otherwise profit from FurnitureDealer.Net’s original and copyright protected Coaster
material unless and until Amazon.com and Coaster are enjoined by this Court.
53. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Amazon.com and Coaster
alleged above, FurnitureDealer.Net has and will suffer irreparable damage.
FurnitureDealer.Net has no adequate remedy at law and will continue to suffer
irreparable damages until Amazon.com’s and Coaster’s actions alleged above are
enjoined by the Court.
54. Amazon.com’s and Coaster’s infringing acts and wrongful conduct were,
and, if continued hereafter, will be, committed knowingly, intentionally and willfully.
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COUNT I
Direct Copyright Infringement

(Amazon.com and Coaster)
55. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference the allegations contained
in the preceding paragraphs.
56. By their actions alleged above, Defendants have directly infringed and will
continue to directly infringe Plaintiff’s original and copyright protected Coaster material.
57. Plaintiff is entitled to an injunction restraining Defendants and their
officers, agents, and employees, and all persons acting in concert with them, from
engaging in any further such acts in violation of the copyright laws.
58. Plaintiff is further entitled to recover from Defendants the damages,
including attorneys’ fees, it has sustained as a result of Defendants’ infringing conduct,
including, but not limited to, any gains, profits, and advantages obtained by Defendants
relating to their acts of infringement alleged above. Among other things, Plaintiff is
entitled to recover its lost profits, Defendants’ wrongful profits, diminution in value of
Plaintiff’s Content Library, statutory damages, enhanced damages in accordance with 17
U.S.C. § 504(c)(2), attorneys’ fees, interest, and costs. At present, the amount of such
damages, gains, profits, and advantages cannot be fully ascertained by Plaintiff.
COUNT II
Contributory Infringement
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60. Defendants induced, caused and materially contributed to the infringing
acts of others by encouraging, inducing, allowing and assisting others to copy, use,
display and publish FurnitureDealer.Net’s original and copyright protected Coaster
material, including, without limitation, any such copying and use by Amazon.com’s
customers, third party resellers, affiliates and/or associates.
61. Defendants had knowledge of the infringing acts relating to Plaintiff's
original and copyright protected Coaster material.
62. The acts and conduct of Defendants, as alleged herein, constitute
contributory copyright infringement.
officers, agents, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them, from engaging in
any further such acts in violation of the copyright laws.
Plaintiff’s Content Library, statutory damages, enhanced damages in accordance with 17
17
U.S.C. § 504(c)(2), attorneys’ fees, interest, and costs. At present, the amount of such
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COUNT III
Vicarious Infringement
66. Numerous individuals and entities directly infringed Plaintiff's original and
copyright protected Coaster material, including, without limitation, Amazon.com’s
customers, third party resellers, affiliates and/or associates.
67. Defendants had the right and ability to control the infringing acts of the
individuals or entities who directly infringed Plaintiff’s original and copyright protected
Coaster material.
68. Defendants obtained a direct financial benefit from the infringing activities
of the individuals or entities who directly infringed Plaintiff's copyrights.
69. The acts and conduct of Defendants, as alleged herein, constitute vicarious
copyright infringement.
officers, agents, and employees, and all persons acting in concert with them, from
engaging in any further such acts in violation of the copyright laws.
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Plaintiff’s Content Library, statutory damages, enhanced damages in accordance with
17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2), attorneys’ fees, interest, and costs. At present, the amount of such
COUNT IV
Alteration or Removal of Copyright Management Information

73. The product pages of the FurnitureDealer.Net managed Coaster website
contained copyright notices identifying Plaintiff as the owner of FurnitureDealer.Net’s
original and copyright protected Coaster material.
74. The inclusion of a copyright notice, including the identity of Plaintiff,
constitutes "copyright management information" as defined in 17 U.S.C. § 1202(c).
75. Defendants, without authority of Plaintiff or the law, intentionally removed
and/or altered and have caused and induced others to remove and/or alter such copyright
management information from FurnitureDealer.Net’s subject works, and has thereafter
distributed the improperly modified works, having reasonable grounds to know that such
acts will induce, enable, facilitate or conceal an infringement of copyright in violation of
17 U.S.C. § 1202(b)(1) and (3).
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76. Defendants’ removal or alteration of copyright management information from
FurnitureDealer.Net’s subject works, and their subsequent distribution of the improperly
modified works was, and is, willful and intentional, and was, and is, executed with full knowledge
of FurnitureDealer.Net’s rights under copyright law, and in disregard of FurnitureDealer.Net’s
rights.
77. FurnitureDealer.Net is entitled to recover its actual damages suffered as a result of
the violation and any profits of Defendants attributable to the violation and not taken into account
in computing actual damages, or, at FurnitureDealer.Net’s election, statutory damages pursuant to
17 U.S.C. § 1203(c).
78. FurnitureDealer.Net is entitled to recover costs and attorneys' fees from
Defendants pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1203(b)(4) and (5).
79. Defendants’ violations of 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b)(1) and (3) have caused, and, unless
restrained by this Court, will continue to cause, irreparable injury to FurnitureDealer.Net not fully
compensable in monetary damages. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1203(b)(1), FurnitureDealer.Net is
entitled to a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendants from further such
violations.
COUNT V
Unjust Enrichment
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81. Defendants have unlawfully received benefits from their unauthorized use
of Plaintiff’s original and copyright protected Coaster material.
82. Defendants have accepted and retained the benefits knowing that their
conduct was unjust and that retaining the benefits was inequitable.
83. Defendants have been, and continue to be, unjustly enriched by retaining
the benefits they have received as a result of their improper conduct.
COUNT VI
Breach of Contract
(Coaster)
85. Defendant Coaster voluntarily accepted and agreed to the terms of the
Coaster Agreement, including, without limitation: i) the limited authorization and license
to use FurnitureDealer.Net’s Coaster content solely and exclusively with Coaster’s own
website created and managed by FurntureDealer.Net and websites of Coaster authorized
dealers who entered into a separate licensing agreement with FurnitureDealer.Net; and ii)
the prohibition on Coaster selling, licensing, sharing, copying or giving away any of
FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library to any third party.
86. Upon information and belief, Coaster violated and breached the Coaster
Agreement by, inter alia, copying and/or uploading FurnitureDealer.Net’s original and
copyright protected Coaster material to Amazon.com and others for use with
Amazon.com detail pages as well as other third party retail sites.
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87. Plaintiff has been, and will continue to be, damaged as a result and
proximate cause of Defendant’s breach. The amount of damages suffered by Plaintiff as
a result of Defendant’s breach exceeds $75,000.
88. Plaintiff has been, and will continue to be, irreparably harmed by this
breach of the Coaster Agreement.
89. Plaintiff is without an adequate remedy at law.
COUNT VII
Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

(Coaster)
91. The Coaster Agreement contained implied covenants of good faith and fair
dealing providing that neither party would act to deprive the other of the benefits of the
agreements between them.
92. Coaster’s conduct represents a breach of the implied covenants of good
faith and fair dealing between FurnitureDealer.Net and Coaster, including, without
limitation, by Coaster falsely representing that it had not granted permission or authority
to Amazon.com to use FurnitureDealer.Net’s Coaster content despite having been
personally responsible for uploading the content to Amazon.com for use with
Amazon.com detail pages. Coaster’s actions and misrepresentation have unreasonably
delayed FurnitureDealer.Net’s efforts to enforce it rights and obtain the full benefits of
the Coaster Agreement.
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93. As a direct and proximate result of such breach and Coaster’s wrongful
conduct, FurnitureDealer.Net has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully request that this Court enter judgment in its
favor and against Defendants as follows:
1. That the Court find that Plaintiff has a valid copyright for its Content
Library, including its original and copyright protected Coaster material;
2. That the Court find that Defendants have infringed Plaintiff’s copyright;
3. That the Court find that Defendants infringement of Plaintiff’s copyright
has been knowing and willful;
4. That the Court find that Defendants removed and/or altered Plaintiff’s
copyright management information, and distributed such improperly modified material in
violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b)(1) and (3);
5. That the Court find that there is a substantial likelihood that Defendants
will continue to infringe Plaintiff’s copyrights and violate 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b)(1) and (3)
unless enjoined from doing so;
6. That the Court find that Defendants have been unjustly enriched by their
conduct;
7. That the Court find that Defendant Coaster breached the Coaster
Agreement and breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
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8. That Defendants and their officers, directors, agents, servants, employees,
and all other persons in active concert or privity or in participation with them, be enjoined
from: (i) directly or indirectly continuing to infringe Plaintiff’s copyright, including being
enjoined from copying, or in any way using, distributing, publishing or displaying
Plaintiff’s copyright protected Content Library or to participate or assist in any such
activity; and (ii) directly or indirectly continuing to violate 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b)(1) and (3);
9. That Defendants and their directors, officers, agents, servants, employees,
and all other persons in active concert or privity or in participation with them, be required
to return to Plaintiff any and all versions, copies, or duplicates, in whatever form, of any
portion of Plaintiff’s copyright protected Content Library in their possession, control, or
custody;
10. That Defendants be required to file with the Court and to serve on Plaintiff
a written report, under oath, setting forth in detail the manner and form in which
Defendants have complied with the Court’s order;
11. That judgment be entered for Plaintiff and against Defendants for Plaintiff’s
actual damages, which include, among other things, its lost profits, diminished value of
its Content Library, and for Defendants’ profits relating to Defendants’ conduct
complained of herein;
12. That judgment be entered for Plaintiff and against Defendants for statutory
damages based upon Defendants’ acts of infringement and violations of 17 U.S.C. §
1202(b)(1) and (3);
25
13. That Defendants be required to account for all gains, profits, and
advantages derived from their acts complained of herein and/or other violations of law;
14. That all gains, profits, and advantages derived by Defendants from their
acts complained of herein and/or other violations of law be deemed to be held in
constructive trust for Plaintiff’s benefit;
15. That the Court enter judgment for Plaintiff and against Defendants for
enhanced damages due to the willful, intentional and bad faith nature of Defendant’s
conduct complained of herein;
16. That the Court enter judgment for Plaintiff and against Defendants for
Plaintiff’s costs, interest, and attorneys’ fees; and
17. That the Court enter judgment against Defendants and for Plaintiff for such
other and further relief as the Court deems appropriate and equitable.
Dated: May 14, 2018 BRIGGS AND MORGAN P.A.
By: s/Michael M. Lafeber_______________

Michael M. Lafeber (#242871)
Scott M. Flaherty (#388354)
2200 IDS Center
80 South Eighth Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402
Telephone: (612) 977-8400
Facsimile: (612) 977-8650
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
26

Copyright Complaint Re Product Descriptions in URL

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Copyright Complaint Re Product Descriptions in URL

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CASE 0:18-cv-00232-JRT-HB Document 6 Filed 05/14/18 Page 1 of 26

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.net, Inc., as and for its Complaint against Defendants

1. Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.net, Inc. (“FurnitureDealer.Net”) is a Minnesota

corporation with its principle place of business in Burnsville, Minnesota.

2. On information and belief, Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon.com”)

is a Delaware corporation with its principle place of business in Seattle, Washington.

3. On information and belief, Defendant COA, Inc. dba Coaster Company of

America is a California corporation with its principle place of business in Santa Fe

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

unauthorized and improper alteration or removal of copyright management information in

amount in controversy far exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs.

6. Venue is appropriate in this judicial district under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b) and

7. Plaintiff requests a jury trial for all issues so triable.

8. Plaintiff FurnitureDealer.Net creates, produces and manages full-service

is stored in an automated database which is utilized to populate the websites of

9. United States Federal Certificate of Registration No. TXu 2-065-062 was

registration of FurnitureDealer.Net’s automated database, including, without limitation,

its Content Library, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 102(a)(5). The Certificate of Registration is

attached to this Complaint as Exhibit A.

10. Without limitation, FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library includes original

and search engine optimized descriptive text covering FurnitureDealer.Net’s longtime

customer COA, Inc. dba Coaster Company of America’s (“Coaster”) catalog.

Coaster on or about February 29, 2010 (“Coaster Agreement”).

12. Pursuant to the Coaster Agreement, FurnitureDealer.Net’s Coaster material

website created and managed by FurntureDealer.Net; and ii) websites of Coaster

13. The Coaster agreement contains tight restrictions on Coaster’s use of

FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library. Without limitation, the agreement expressly

FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library to any third party.

14. Lacking any permission or authority, FurnitureDealer.Net’s original

furniture. FurnitureDealer.Net conducted an initial investigation which revealed

voluminous separate Amazon.com URLs containing infringing Coaster material

misappropriated and copied from FurnitureDealer.Net’s Content Library without

15. What followed was a frustrating and futile effort by FurnitureDealer.Net to

get Amazon.com and Coaster to respect FurnitureDealer.Net’s intellectual property rights

16. FurnitureDealer.Net repeatedly notified Amazon.com and Coaster of such

blatantly ignored and failed to comply with FurnitureDealer.Net’s requests. Despite

having full knowledge of FurnitureDealer.Net’s rights, Amazon.com and Coaster have

intentionally continued to infringe upon and directly profit from FurnitureDealer.Net’s

original copyright protected material.

Amazon.com’s Failure to Comply with FurnitureDealer.Net’s

17. FurnitureDealer.Net originally believed Amazon.com was acting solely as a

FurnitureDealer.Net submitted a written takedown request to copyright@amazon.com

Infringement.” FurnitureDealer.Net provided a detailed description of the copyrighted

19. Specifically, FurnitureDealer.Net provided a separate spreadsheet

identifying three hundred ninety four (394) representative examples of Amazon.com

FurnitureDealer.Net controlled and managed sites containing the corresponding

FurnitureDealer.Net authorized descriptive text.

20. Amazon.com acknowledged receipt of the take down request via an

Copyright Infringement” already complied with by FurnitureDealer.Net.

procedures, FurnitureDealer.Net received a second follow-up e-mail from Amazon.com

items you reference in your correspondence.” FurnitureDealer.Net was advised to “[c]ut

and paste the direct link to each item in the email.”

22. Amazon.com’s response was frustrating considering FurnitureDealer.Net

descriptive text found at such sites.

23. Amazon.com’s February 26, 2016 email expressly condoned the

24. Despite having previously provided the requested information,

FurnitureDealer.Net complied with Amazon.com’s request and pasted the infringing

directly into an email.

25. Amazon.com acknowledged receipt of FurnitureDealer.Net’s second notice

directly into an email, which FurnitureDealer.Net complied with.

27. Setting aside its frustration, FurnitureDealer.Net responded by way of email

identified with detail specific FurnitureDealer.Net copyright protected descriptive text

spreadsheet and its prior requests/communications.

28. In response, FurnitureDealer.Net received the identical automated

Claims of Copyright Infringement” FurnitureDealer.Net had already complied with. The

contact FurnitureDealer.Net if “additional information is required.” No additional