Source: https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Illinois_Northern_District_Court/1--19-cv-02386/Bell_v._Chicago_Cubs_Baseball_Club_LLC_et_al/1/
Timestamp: 2020-02-24 05:19:33
Document Index: 415999548

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1331', '§ 1332', '§ 1391', '§ 503', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 505']

Bell v. Chicago Cubs Baseball Club, LLC et al, 1:19-cv-02386, No. 1 (N.D.Ill. Apr. 9, 2019)
Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 1 of 8 PageID #:1
`NORTHER DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
`KEITH F. BELL, PH.D.,
`CHICAGO CUBS BASEBALL CLUB, LLC
`AND JOSHUA LIFRAK
`Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-02386
`Plaintiff, Keith F. Bell, Ph.D. (“Dr. Bell” or “Plaintiff’), files this Complaint to recover damages
`arising from violations of Dr. Bell’s intellectual property rights by defendants Chicago Cubs
`Baseball Club, LLC (“Defendant Cubs”) and Joshua Lifrak (“Defendant Lifrak”). Defendant Cubs
`and Defendant Lifrak are hereafter referred to collectively as “Defendants.” In support of his
`claims, Plaintiff states as follows:
`1. Plaintiff is, and at all relevant times has been, a resident of Texas.
`2. Defendant Chicago Cubs Baseball Club, LLC is a limited liability company organized under
`the laws of the Delaware that maintains its principal place of business in Illinois. It may be
`served with summons through its registered agent, CT Corporation System, 208 So. LaSalle
`Street, Suite 814, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
`3. Defendant Joshua Lifrak is a natural person who, on information and belief, resides and
`maintains his principal place of business in this judicial district and division. Defendant Lifrak
`is an employee and agent of Defendant Cubs. He may be served at his principal place of
`business with Defendants Cubs located at 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois 60613.
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 2 of 8 PageID #:1
`4. This Court has jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338(a) in
`that the claims arise under an act of Congress relating to copyrights. This Court also has
`diversity jurisdiction in this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) because Plaintiff and
`Defendant are from different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. There is
`complete diversity among the parties.
`5. This Court has jurisdiction over Defendants because they reside and are domiciled in Illinois,
`conduct business in Illinois, have their principal place of business in Illinois, and committed
`the wrongful acts at issue in this case in Illinois.
`6. Plaintiff contends that there is both specific and general jurisdiction over Defendants in Illinois,
`that Defendants have sufficient minimum contacts to satisfy due process, and that the exercise
`of jurisdiction over Defendants comports with traditional notions of fair play and substantial
`7. Venue is proper in this judicial district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)(1)-(2), (c)(1)-(2), and
`1400(a) because a substantial part of the events giving rise to Plaintiff’s claims occurred in this
`judicial district and because Defendants maintain their principal place of business and reside
`within this judicial district and division.
`Dr. Bell and His Sports Psychology Practice
`8. Dr. Bell is an internationally-recognized sports psychology and performance consultant. He
`has worked as a sports psychologist with over 500 teams, including the Olympic and national
`teams for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Fiji, and the
`Cayman Islands.
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 3 of 8 PageID #:1
`9. In addition to his work with sports teams, Dr. Bell speaks at national and international coaching
`symposia. Among others, he has been a featured speaker with the National High School
`Coaches Association, North America Soccer Association, U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine
`Symposium, American Swim Coaches Association, Australian Coaches Association, Canadian
`Coaches Association, Japanese Coaches Association, and British Swim Coaches Association.
`10. Dr. Bell has also enjoyed success as an athlete and coach. He is a four-time collegiate All-
`American swimmer, holds numerous world and national masters swim records, and has
`coached U.S. national, university, collegiate, high school, and club swimming teams.
`11. Further, Dr. Bell has authored and had published 10 books and over 80 articles relating to
`sports psychology and sports performance. He also has been a regular columnist for national
`swimming publications such as Swimmers, Swimmers Coach, SwimSwam, and Swim Texas
`Magazine, and is a periodic contributor to Austin Fit Magazine.
`Dr. Bell’s Original Literary Work, Winning Isn’t Normal
`12. In 1981, Dr. Bell wrote the book entitled Winning Isn’t Normal (“Winning Isn’t Normal” or
`the “Infringed Work”), which was first published in 1982. The book has enjoyed substantial
`acclaim, distribution, and publicity. Dr. Bell is the sole author of this work and continues to
`own all rights in the work.
`13. Dr. Bell holds a copyright registration for the Infringed Work. A copyright registration
`certificate for Winning Isn’t Normal was issued to Dr. Bell by the United States Copyright
`Office on or about September 21, 1989, with the registration number TX-0002-6726-44. A
`true and correct copy of the Certificate of Registration is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
`14. Since Dr. Bell authored and published the Infringed Work, Winning Isn’t Normal, he has and
`continues to promote, distribute, offer for sale, and sell numerous copies of the work.
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 4 of 8 PageID #:1
`Currently, among others, Dr. Bell offers Winning Isn’t Normal for sale through Amazon.com
`and the website keelpublications.com.
`15. Dr. Bell has made and continues to make meaningful efforts to create a market for Winning
`Isn’t Normal and to protect and enjoy the rights afforded to him under the Copyright Act.
`Importantly, as part of these efforts, Dr. Bell creates, markets, and sells works derivative of the
`Infringed Work, such as posters and t-shirts that display a particular passage from Winning
`Isn’t Normal (the “WIN Passage”). The WIN Passage is viewed by Dr. Bell and others as the
`heart of Dr. Bell’s literary work Winning Isn’t Normal. A true and correct copy of the WIN
`Passage is attached as Exhibit B.
`16. Dr. Bell owns the domain winningisntnormal.com, which points to the keelpublications.com
`website where Dr. Bell offers the Infringed Work Winning Isn’t Normal and derivative works
`for sale.
`17. Due to the popularity of his original work Winning Isn’t Normal, Dr. Bell has been able to
`increase his international recognition as an authority in sports psychology and sports
`performance and has been asked to speak at conferences, symposia, and other engagements as
`a result.
`18. Dr. Bell has offered and continues to offer licenses at fair and reasonable rates to others who
`wish to publish or otherwise use the popular WIN Passage on the internet or in traditional
`publishing mediums.
`19. Dr. Bell has taken due care to provide notice of his copyright in Winning Isn’t Normal. Dr.
`Bell has included pertinent copyright notices on physical and electronic copies of Winning
`Isn’t Normal and derivative works, provides pertinent copyright notices on Amazon.com and
`keelpublications.com, and includes a conspicuous copyright watermark on digital images of
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 5 of 8 PageID #:1
`derivative works (such as posters) or excerpts that he posts online or otherwise distributes. Dr.
`Bell also includes information on keelpublications.com regarding how to contact Dr. Bell
`about obtaining permission to use the WIN Passage or other portions of Winning Isn’t Normal.
`Defendants’ Infringement of Dr. Bell’s Work
`20. Defendant Cubs is a professional baseball team based in Chicago.
`21. Defendant Lifrak is the director of the “Mental Skills Program” for Defendant Cubs.
`22. Defendant Lifrak is an employee and agent of Defendant Cubs. The job responsibilities of
`Defendant Lifrak include issues that generally fall sports psychology, which is the specialty of
`Dr. Bell. In fact, the Mental Skills Program was launched in 2015 under the direction of a
`sports psychologist.
`23. At the time of the acts at issue in this case and currently, Defendant Lifrak prominently notes
`his employment with Defendant Cubs. Plaintiff contends that maintaining an active Twitter
`account is something that Defendant Lifrak does in the course and scope of his employment
`with Defendant Cubs, and his followers include many players and coaches within Defendant
`Cubs’ organization.
`24. In or around May 2016, Defendant Lifrak posted an excerpt of Winning Isn’t Normal on his
`Twitter account. A copy of this infringement is attached hereto as Exhibit C. At that time,
`Defendant Lifrak had over 1,000 followers. The infringement of Defendant Lifrak was “liked”
`at least 14 times and retweeted at least nine times.
`25. The use of Dr. Bell’s intellectual property as described herein was made without authorization
`from Dr. Bell and without attribution to Dr. Bell.
`26. Defendants did not request permission to use Dr. Bell’s copyrighted work at any time.
`COUNT I - COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 6 of 8 PageID #:1
`27. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every paragraph set forth above as if fully set forth
`again at length herein.
`28. Plaintiff owns valid copyright in the Infringed Work.
`29. Defendants have, without authorization, copied one or more of the constituent elements of the
`Infringed Work that are original.
`30. Defendants copied the heart of the Infringed Work almost or completely verbatim, rendering
`the offending works substantially similar to and/or functionally identical to the Infringed Work.
`31. Defendants’ copying of the Infringed Work was done willfully and intentionally in violation
`of federal copyright law, with knowledge that an agreement had not been reached with Plaintiff
`regarding such copying, and with knowledge that neither a license nor an assignment had been
`granted to Defendants allowing them to copy or use the Infringed Work.
`32. Defendants have, without authorization, publicly displayed, and distributed one or more of the
`constituent elements of the Infringed Work that are original.
`33. Defendants’ public display and distribution of the heart of the Infringed Work was done
`willfully and intentionally in violation of federal copyright law, with knowledge that an
`agreement had not been reached with Plaintiff regarding such public display and distribution,
`and with knowledge that neither a license nor an assignment had been granted to Defendants
`allowing them to publicly display the Infringed Work.
`34. By so copying, publicly displaying, and distributing the Infringed Work, Defendants have
`willfully infringed Plaintiff’s copyrights therein, for which infringement Plaintiff is entitled to
`injunctive relief and to recover damages in the form of either Defendants’ actual profits
`attributable to the infringements or, in the alternative and at Plaintiff’s election, statutory
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 7 of 8 PageID #:1
`damages. Defendants should also be required to pay Plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees, as authorized
`by law, associated with its copyright infringement.
`WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendants as follows:
`1. Declaring that Defendants’ unauthorized conduct violates Plaintiff’s rights under 17 U.S.C. §
`106;
`2. Permanently enjoining Defendants and their agents, employees, affiliated companies, and
`those acting in concert with them from infringing Plaintiff’s copyright and, specifically,
`enjoining them from reproducing, selling, distributing, publicly performing, or making
`derivative works of Plaintiff’s copyrighted work;
`3. Ordering the impoundment or destruction of all copies of the infringing work in the possession
`or control of any of the Defendants or their agents, employees, affiliated companies, and those
`acting in concert with them, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 503(b);
`4. Ordering Defendants to account for and disgorge to Plaintiff all gains, profits, and advantages
`derived by their copyright infringement, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) and other law;
`5. Awarding Plaintiff such actual damages as he has sustained as a result of Defendants’
`copyright infringement in an amount to be determined at trial, and/or statutory damages
`pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 504(b), 504(c);
`6. Awarding Plaintiff his costs, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and disbursements in this action,
`pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505 and other law;
`7. Awarding Plaintiff pre- and post-judgment interest on any monetary recovery; and
`8. Granting such other and further relief as the Court deems just and appropriate.
`April 9, 2019
`Case: 1:19-cv-02386 Document #: 1 Filed: 04/09/19 Page 8 of 8 PageID #:1
`/s/Adam E. Urbanczyk
`AU LLC
`564 W. Randolph St. 2nd Floor
`adamu@au-llc.com
`Ph. (312) 715-7312
`Fax (312) 646-2501
`ARDC No. 6301067
`C. Ashley Callahan (pro hac vice to be filed)
`Law Offices of C. Ashley Callahan, P.C.
`The Haehnel Building
`1101 East 11th Street
`Austin, TX 78702
`Ph. (512) 817-3977
`Fax (512) 287-3127
`acallahan@callahanlawoffices.com
`Joshua G. Jones (pro hac vice to be filed)
`The Law Office of Joshua G. Jones
`609 Castle Ridge Road, Ste. 450
`Austin, TX 78746
`Ph. (512) 552-6123
`jjones@jgjoneslaw.com