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Timestamp: 2019-04-20 10:23:11+00:00

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FindACase | Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc.
Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc.
2K GAMES, INC. and TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC., Defendants-Counterclaimants.
The Court has jurisdiction of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338.
Defendants now move for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), requesting an order dismissing Plaintiff's copyright infringement claim and entry of judgment in Defendants' favor on their counterclaims for declaratory judgments of de minimis use and fair use. (Docket Entry No. 76.) The Court has considered carefully the parties' submissions in connection with the motion. For the following reasons, Defendants' motion is denied.
The Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the allegations of the SAC, which have been detailed in prior decisions of the Court, including the August 2, 2016, Memorandum Opinion and Order and the May 16, 2017, Memorandum Order. (See Docket Entry Nos. 55 and 64.) The following recitation of relevant facts is derived from the allegations in the SAC and the Defendants' Counterclaims, the well-pleaded factual content of which is taken as true for purposes of this motion. The following facts are undisputed.
“The standard for granting a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings is identical to that of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim.” Patel v. Contemporary Classics of Beverly Hills, 259 F.3d 123, 126 (2d Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A proper complaint cannot simply recite legal conclusions or bare elements of a cause of action; it must plead factual content that “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556(.
“In order to establish a claim of copyright infringement, ‘a plaintiff with a valid copyright must demonstrate that: (1) the defendant has actually copied the plaintiff's work; and (2) the copying is illegal because a substantial similarity exists between the defendant's work and the protectible elements of plaintiff's.'” Peter F. Gaito Architecture, LLC v. Simone Dev. Corp., 602 F.3d 57, 63 (2d Cir. 2010) (quoting Hamil Am. Inc. v. GFI, 193 F.3d 92, 99 (2d Cir.1999)). The “substantial similarity test” is whether “an average lay observer would recognize the alleged copy as having been appropriated from the copyrighted work.” Knitwaves, Inc. v. Lollytogs Ltd. (Inc.), 71 F.3d 996, 1002 (2d Cir. 1995) (quotation marks omitted) (citing Malden Mills, Inc. v. Regency Mills, Inc., 626 F.2d 1112, 1113 (2d Cir. 1980)).
Determining substantial similarity is “one of the most difficult questions in copyright law, and one that is the least susceptible of helpful generalizations.” Peter F. Gaito Architecture, LLC v. Simone Development Corp., 602 F.3d 57, 63 (2d Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). A court may “consider the similarity between [two] works in connection with a motion to dismiss, because the court has before it all that is necessary in order to make such an evaluation[, ]” and “[i]f, in making that evaluation, the district court determines that the two works are not substantially similar as a matter of law, ” a “court can properly conclude that the plaintiff's complaint, together with the works incorporated therein, do not plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Id. at 64 (quotation marks and citation omitted). The Second Circuit has “acknowledge[d] that there can be certain instances of alleged copyright infringement where the question of substantial similarity cannot be addressed without the aid of discovery or expert testimony.” Id. at 65 (noting that the trier of fact need not always be “limited by the strictures of its own lay perspective”) (internal citations omitted). In such cases, resolution at the pleadings stage would be premature. See id.

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