In a February 21, 2014 ruling, Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied in part and granted in part the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff John Wiley & Sons, Inc. started a declaratory judgment action against DRK Photo for a declaration that Wiley had not infringed DRK’s copyrights in certain stock photographs that DRK had previously licensed to Wiley as the representative for the photographers that originally took the photographs. DRK then counterclaimed for copyright infringement. After the completion of discovery, the parties cross-moved for summary judgment.A threshold issue for DRK’s motion was its standing to assert copyright infringement claims. Judge Failla wrote that under 17 U.S.C. § 501(b), only legal or beneficial owners of a copyright have standing to sue, and that “the Second Circuit enforces Section 501(b) by holding that ‘[t]he Copyright Act authorizes only two types of claimants to sue for copyright infringement: [i] owners of copyrights, and [ii] persons who have been granted exclusive licenses by owners of copyrights.’” After analyzing the Representation Agreements under which DRK acquired the right to license the photographs at issue to Wiley, the Court concluded that the “record provides uncontroverted proof that the Representation Agreements are nonexclusive licenses.” Judge Failla premised her conclusion in part on the fact that “DRK admitted that the Representation Agreements are nonexclusive licenses.” Judge Failla also rejected DRK’s argument that was a beneficial owner of the copyrights at issue because it was entitled to one-half of the licensing revenue, noting that “the cases on which DRK relies in support do not prove otherwise.”
