Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons

8/11/2019 Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons

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JS44C/SDNY

CIVIL COVER

REV. 4/2014 JUDGFCOTP

The JS-44 civil cover sheet andtne information contained herein neither replace nor supplement the filing

pleadings or other papers as required by law,except as provided by local rules ofcourt. Thisform,approved bythe

JudicialConference ofthe UnitedStates inSeptember 1974, is requiredfor use ofthe Clerk ofCourtforthe purpose of

initiating the civil docket sheet.

2 4

CV

M

ed bvthe * W

2 14

PLAINTIFFS

DEFENDANTS

ARMEN DJERRAHIAN GLOBAL GRINDDIGITAL, INC.A/K/A GG DIGITAL, INC.,

and

RUSSEL

SIMMONS

ATTORNEYS (FIRM NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER

ATTORNEYS

(IFKNOWN)

Edward C. Greenberg, LLC

570

Lexington

Avenue,

19th Floor, New York, NY

10022

(212) 697-8777

CAUSE OFACTION (CITE THE U.S. CIVIL STATUTE

UNDER

WHICH YOU ARE FILING AND

WRITE

ABRIEF STATEMENTOF CAUSE)

(DO NOTCITEJURISDICTIONALSTATUTES UNLESS DIVERSITY)

Copyright Infringement 17 U.S.C 501-505

Has this action, case, or proceeding, or

one

essentially the same

been

previously

filed in SDNY at any time? N


2/21

PLACE

AN

x IN ONE BOXONLY ORIGIN

I*] 1

Original

2 Removed from

L_I

3

Remanded

D 4 Reinstated or O 5

Transferred

from Q 6

Multidistrict

7 Appeal to Distric

Proceeding

State

Court from Reopened (Specify

District)

Litigation Judge from

a.

,llP,rti.srp,.n.d

APPate

Magistrate Judg

L '

K K Court Judgment

I | b. At least one

party is pro se .

PLACEANxINONEBOXONLY

BASIS

OF

JURISDICTION

IF

DIVERSITY, INDICATE

D

1

U.S. PLAINTIFF

2 U.S.

DEFENDANT

[x] 3

FEDERAL QUESTION

\J4 DIVERSITY CITIZENSHIP BELOW.

(U.S. NOT A PARTY)

CITIZENSHIP OF PRINCIPAL PARTIES (FOR

DIVERSITY

CASES

ONLY)

(Place an [X] inone box for Plaintiffand one box for Defendant)

PTF DEF

PTFDEF

PTF DEF

CITIZEN OFTHIS

STATE

[ ]1 [ ]1 CITIZEN ORSUBJECT OFA [ ]3 [ ] 3 INCORPORATED and

PRINCIPAL

PLACE [ ]5 [ ]5

FOREIGN

COUNTRY

OF BUSINESS IN

ANOTHER

STATE

CITIZEN OF

ANOTHER STATE

[ ]2 [ ]2 INCORPORATED or

PRINCIPAL PLACE

[ ]4 [ ]4 FOREIGN

NATION

[ ]6 [ ]6

OF BUSINESS IN

THIS

STATE

PLAINTIFF(S) ADDRESS(ES) ANDCOUNTY(IES)

ARMEN DJERRAHIAN, 164 Russell St, #2R, Brooklyn, New York, 11222

DEFENDANT(S)ADDRESS(ES) ANDCOUNTY(IES)

GLOBAL GRIND DIGITAL, INC., a/k/a GG DIGITAL, INC., 980 Avenue of the Americas, New York,

New

York,

10018

RUSSELL SIMMONS,

980

Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York, 10018

DEFENDANT(S) ADDRESS UNKNOWN

REPRESENTATIONIS HEREBY

MADE THAT,

ATTHIS

TIME,

I HAVE BEEN UNABLE,

WITH

REASONABLEDILIGENCE, TO ASCERTAIN

RESIbENCE ADDRESSES

OF THE FOLLOWING DEFENDANTS:

Check one:

THIS

ACTION

SHOULD

BE

ASSIGNED

TO:

WHITE PLAINS [x] MANHATTAN

(DO NOT check either box if this a PRISONER PETITION/PRISONER CIVIL RIGHTS

COMPLAINT.)

DATE

/SIGNATURE.Of

ATTORNEY

OF RECORD

^

ADMITTED TO

PRACTICE

IN

THIS

DISTRICT

4f r7 ir

s

s? ss~

m no

V / / > > ^ J ^

^F

/ , [] YES

(DATE

ADMITTED

Mo. 10

Yr.

82

RECEIPT* y/Xyy^y/^^/^::^lf / / r

Attorney

Bar Code

#

5553

Magistrate

Judge

is to be designated by the Clerk of the Court.*,.

Magistrate Judge

^^i^EMAlfl

is so Designated.

Ruby J. Krajick,

Clerk

ofCourt by Deputy

Clerk,

DATED .

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT(NEWYORKSOUTHERN)

Cl ea r Form Save Print


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4U0GEC0TE

UNITED

STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT

OF

NEW

YORK

ARMEN DJERRAHIAN,

Plaintiff,

14

CV

against

GLOBAL

GRIND DIGITAL,

INC.

A/K/A GG

DIGITALJNC,

and RUSSELL SIMMONS,

Defendants .

7547

COMPLA INT

: l

c ;

E CF C AS E

P

o

~n

~T

1

J

^

PlaintiffARMEN DJERRAHIAN by his attorney,

EDWARD

C. GREENBERG,

LLC,

alleges as follows that:

PART IE S

1. PlaintiffARMEN DJERRAHIAN (hereinafter Plaintiff or DJERRAHIAN ) is an

individual citizen

of

France, who is actively engaged in the photography business in the State

of

New

York and elsewhere, and who resides in Brooklyn,

New

York 11222.

2. Defendant GLOBAL GRIND DIGITAL, INC., a/k/a GG DIGITAL,

INC.

(hereinafter GLOBAL GRIND ) is a domestic business corporation, duly organized and

existing under the laws

of

the State

of

New York, which upon information and belief, maintains

its principle place of business at 980 Avenue

of

the Americas, New York, New York, 10018 and

is

l icensed

to do business i n t he

State

o f

N ew

York.

3. Defendant RUSSELL SIMMONS (hereinafter SIMMONS ) is an individual

who upon information and

belief

resides and routinely does business in the State and County

of


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NewYork. Uponinformation andbelief, SIMMONS wholly ownsdefendant GLOBAL

GRIND.

JUR ISD ICT ION AND

VENUE

3. This is a civil action for copyright infringement.

4. Jurisdiction is conferred upon this Court by 28 U.S.C. 1338.

5. Venue in the Southern District ofNewYork is proper

pursuant

to 28U.S.C.

1400.

FACTS

COMMON TO

ALL CLAIMS

6.

That

Plaintiff

DJERRAHIAN

is a

successful

professional photographer with

many

years of experience and a considerable reputation.

7. DJERRAHIAN is well known in the hip hop music business, as he has worked with

majorartists including Jay-Z,Usher,50 Cent, Eminem, KanyeWest,Rick Ross anddirector

Spike Lee.

DJERRAHIAN s

work has been featured on the covers of several issues ofVibe

Magazine,

and

on

The

Wild

Magazine,

XXL

Magazine,

and

numerous

international

publications.

8. DJERRAHIAN has also shot and directed

music videos

and commercials, including

a music video featuring R&B recording artist Melanie Fiona, which received a nomination for

[Best]

Video

of

the

Year at the 2010 BET

Awards.

9. DJERRAHIAN is alsoa

successful

fashion photographer who hasshotphotos for

Shinola, Cazal Eyewear, Nike, Fila, Reebok, Marc Ecko, and commercials for

Elle

Magazine,

Revlon, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Piaget.


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TH E I M AGE S

10. On May 17, 2010, DJERRAHIAN created photographic images

of

the performer,

rapper and mogul, William Leonard Roberts III, better known as Rick Ross (hereinafter

Ross ) for XXL Magazine, which were published in the July/August 2010 issue ofXXL

Magazine.

11. One of such images ofRoss captures him holding his hand in the shape of a gun

to his head (hereinafter the Image or Subject Image , a copy

of

which is annexed hereto as

Exhibit A ).

12. DJERRAHIAN is well known as the creator of the Subject Image, having been

credited for same when the Image was originally published in XXL Magazine.

13. DJERRAHIAN duly registered the Image with the United States Copyright Office on

April 4, 2014, Registration No. VA 1-908-336 (a copy of said registration is annexed hereto as

Exhibit B ).

14. Ross has sold millions

of

albums and has had at least five (5) albums reach #1 on the

Billboard

music charts.

15. Ross is the founder and head

of

the record label imprint Maybach Music Group, also

k nown a s MMG .

16. The Subject Image ofRoss is iconic in the hip hop community.

17. Upon information and belief, various blogs referring to Ross have purposely selected

the Subject Image ofhim due at least in part to its value and attention getting nature.

18. The Image

of

Ross creatively captures the personality

of

Ross.

19. Upon information and belief, since the Image's creation, the Image has helped to

shape and form Ross' brand in the hip hop music community.


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20. That Image is an important element

of

hip hop music culture.

21. The Subject Image ofRoss is upon information and belief, the definitive image of

him.

22. TMZ has touted the Image as iconic .

23. Defendants operate www.globalgrind.com; a website publishing news and content

about aspects of pop culture including information pertaining to the lives

of

celebrities, lifestyles,

fashion, music, and politics.

24. Upon information and belief, GLOBAL GRIND is wholly owned by mogul Russell

Simmons.

25. SIMMONS is a hip hop mogul, business person of considerable influence, and is

active in the music and hip hop industries.

26. Defendants, or one or more

of

them, have employed the Image in multiple forms on

it s websi te wi thout a l icense authorizat ion or consent.

27. The Subject Image

of

Ross was/is valuable to Defendants.

THE

OFFENDING

USES OF T HE IM A GE S

28. GLOBAL GRIND has employed DJERRAHIAN's Image at least on their website

in a photo gallery under the heading 15 Rappers WithThe BestAd-Libs (LIST) , a copy of

which is annexed h er et o a s Exhi bi t C

29. GLOBAL GRIND has further employed DJERRAHIAN's Image in connection

with an article entitled Stay The F*ck Away.. .Period By Russell Simmons , a copy

of

which is

annexed

hereto

as

Exhib i t

C

30. Upon information and belief, Simmons wrote article, selected plaintiffs Image to

include in same, approved of and published the article with the Image.


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39. The May

14,

2014

Notice Letter included

DJERRAHIAN s

then pending

copyright registration

case number,

and copies of

at

least some ofGLOBAL GRIND s offending

uses

of

the Image.

40.

Defendant, byits counsel, issued responses toplaintiffs requests ona

confidential basis. Despite

same, the

parties

have

been unable to reach a resolution,

sans judicial

intervention.

41.

Plaintiffis committed toprotecting his

copyright

intheSubject

Image.

42. Plaintiff has filed an action against Ross and others in the United states District

Court for the Southern

District

ofNew York, case number 14-cv-3291, pending before Judge

Oetken,

sounding in copyright infringement, based on allegations of their unauthorized

uses

of

the Subject Imageandother Imagestakenby Plaintiff.

43. SIMMONS co-founded the music label

Def

Jam , which is a defendant in

plaintiffs

other litigation against Ross

et

al,

index

number 14-cv-3291 (JPO).

44.

Upon

information and

belief,

the

defendants

are a sophisticated

licensors

and

licensees of

intellectual

property and employ attorneys and/or systems or

protocols

to secure

usage of the intellectual property created by thirdparties.

45. That the defendants, or one or more of them, have no defenses at law to the claims

set forth

herein.

46. That

the

full

nature and

extent

ofall

infringing

uses ofplaintiffs Image

by

GLOBAL

GRIND

are

unknown toPlaintiff

as

of this writing, said information being within the

sole knowledge, custody, and control

of

defendants, or one or more

of

them. That such details

and

information

are expected tobe

ascertained

through discovery in this

action.


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47. Paragraphs 1 through 44 are incorporated by reference with respect to each

of

the below

counts

or

claims

for relief.

FIRST

CLA IM

FOR RE L IE F

Copyright Infringement

Under Section 501

of

the Copyright Act

48. That the use of the Plaintiffs Image by the Defendants, or one or more of them, in

connection with the website www.globalgrind.com was and is without the plaintiffs

authorization, license

or

consent.

49. That, upon information and belief, the defendants, or one or more

of

them, have

infringed the copyright in

Plaintiffs

Image.

50. That, upon information and belief, the aforementioned acts of defendants, or one

or more

of

them, constitute federal statutory copyright infringement under Section 501 of the

Copyright Act in violation of the rights granted to DJERRAHIAN as copyright holder.

51. That, upon information and belief, defendant(s)' uses

of

the Subject Image was

willful, intentional and in

bad

faith.

52. That, upon information and belief, defendant(s)' use

of

the Image in violation of

Plaintiffs copyright was negligent in that it knew or should have known that it was without a

license for the use(s) complained of herein.

53. That, upon information and belief, defendants, or one or more of them, had actual

and/or constructive knowledge and/or through the exercise

of

ordinary business care and/or the

examination of publicrecords, knewor shouldhave knownthat Plaintiffheld the copyright in

the Subject Image, that defendants never had (at any

of

the relevant times herein) a license,

consent,or authorization by Plaintiff for the use of Plaintiff s Image on its website or in any other


10/21

medium ofnews source employed by defendants, orone or

more

of them, and that

any

such

use

would be in violation of Plaintiffs copyright.

54. That as a result

of

defendant(s)' acts, Plaintiffhas been and will continue to be

damaged

in an

amount

as yet to be determined. Plaintiff is aprofessional photographer who

earns

his livelihood by

licensing

rights to

third

parties to employ

his photographic images.

55.

The Copyright Act enables a

prevailing

plaintiff to

elect

to recover

statutory

damages attorneys fees and costs under Section 504 and 505 of the Copyright Act,

17

U.S.C.

Section

101

et.,

seq., oras

an

alternative to statutory

damages,

his

actual damages

and any

additional profits of the defendants, or one ormore of them, which are attributable to the

infringement as under 17U.S.C. Sections 504 (a)-(b).

56. That Plaintiff has been harmed inan amount to be determined bythisHonorable

Court, but believed to be no less than $50,000.

57. That as a result of defendant(s)' acts, Plaintiff has been and will continue to be

damaged in an amount as yet to be determined.

JURY DEMAND

36. That Plaintiffrequests a trial by jury of all issues.

WHEREFORE, plaintiffdemands judgmentas against thedefendant as follows:

ONTHEFIRSTCOUNT-

(A) Award to plaintiffhis actual damages incurred asa result

ofdefendants

infringements,

and all

profits realized as

a

result

of

their infringements,

inamounts

to

be determined

at

trial

but inanamount tobe

determined by this

Court; or

(B)

in

the

alternative,

atplaintiffs election,

award to

plaintiff

maximum statutory damages

pursuant

to 17

U.S.C. 504 for each individual act ofinfringement, and for an

order

of

injunction

permanently

enjoining

and

prohibiting

the defendant,

including but not

limited

to wholly owned subsidiaries,


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from employing

or

utilizing

in any

manner

ormedia

whatsoever, including

all future uses,

sales,

transfers, assignments, or licensing of any and allofplaintiffs

copyrighted

images, pursuant to

17

U.S.C.

502and for an

award

of costs and attorneys' feespursuantto 17

U.S.C.

505;

Prejudgment interest on all sums due;

And

such other

and

further reliefasthisCourt

may

deem just and

proper

inclusive of

any

andallreliefor remedies allowable bythe statutes referenced above or applicable hereinabove.

Dated: New York, NY

September 17, 2014

Yours,

etc.,

EDWARD C.

GREENBERG,

LLC

BY: Edward C. Greenberg, Esq. (ECG 5553)

By: Tamara L. Lannin, Esq. (TL 3784)

570 Lexington Ave., 19th Floor

New

York,

NY 10022

Tel: (212) 697-8777

Fax: (212) 697-2528

Attorneysfor Plaintiff


12/21


13/21

Certificateof Registration

o'*?Xy. I'^'sCertificate issuedunder thesealof theCopyright

Office in

accordance

Willititle

17,

Untied Slates Coiic.

ntteste that registration hasbeenmadefor thework

identified below, 1

ti e

information on this certificate has

beenmadea pan of theCopyrightOifke

records.

TTLLA'tiu.

>vcXt

Registration Number

VA 1-908-336

Effective date

o f

registration:

April

4,2014

egister

ofCopyrights.UnitedStatesofAmerica

Tit le

Title

of

Work:

XXL MagazinerRick Ross

Number 4 Date m

Copiesiuly Aug 2010

Title of Larger

Work: XXL MagaanrrickrossOIc

Number

01c

Dateon

Copiejuly/Aug2010

XXL Magazine:rickross02c

Number 02c Dateon Corjfesjuly/Aug20l0

XXL MagazinerrickrossOJc

Number

03c

DateonCopfesjuiy/Aug

2010

XXL Magane:rickros$04c

Number

04c

Dateon

CojriesJuly/Aug 2010

Completion/Publication

Au thor

YearofContpIetia*: 2010

Dite

of

1s t

Publication: June

15,

2010

Author: Armen Charles Djerrahian

Pseudonym:

ARMEN

Author

Created:

photograpfKs)

Citizen of: France

Year Bon : 1969

Pseudonymous: Yes

Nation o f 1st Publication: United Sta tes

Domiciled In: Mnitcd States

Page

lo f

2


14/21

Registrations: VAOOOl908336

Service

Request*:

1-1338622681

Armen

Charles Djerrahian

164Russell Street,Apt 2R

Brooklyn, NY 11222


15/21

Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons

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