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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS DALLAS DIVISION MAGIC BULLET RECORDS LLC, RAYMOND BROWN, JEREMY GALINDO, and CHRISTOPHER KING, Plaintiffs, v. E3 PARTNERS MINISTRY, AUDIO POST GROUP, LP, BRAD DALE, and DITORE-MEO ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:13-CV-4314

ORIGINAL COMPLAINT TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT: Now come Plaintiffs Magic Bullet Records LLC, Raymond Brown, Jeremy Galindo, and Christopher King (Plaintiffs) complaining of e3 Partners, Audio Post Group, LP, and DitoreMeo (Defendants), who have infringed copyrights owned by Plaintiffs, and in support would show as follows: THE PARTIES 1. Plaintiff Magic Bullet Records LLC is a limited liability company with its

principal place of business in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 2. Plaintiffs Jeremy Galindo and Christopher King are individuals living in Austin,

Texas. Plaintiff Raymond Brown is an individual living in San Antonio, Texas. Collectively, they form the musical band This Will Destroy You.

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3.

Defendant e3 Partners Ministry is a Texas non-profit corporation with its

principal place of business in Plano, Texas. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for service of process, CT Corporation System, at 350 N. St. Paul St., Ste. 2900, Dallas, Texas, 75201-4234. 4. Defendant Audio Post, LP is a Texas limited partnership, doing business under

the assumed name Dallas Audio Post, with its principal place of business in Carrollton, Texas. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for service of process, Roy Machado, at 2445 Lacy Lane, Carrollton, Texas, 75006. 5. Defendant Brad Dale is an individual residing, on information and belief, in

Dallas County. He may be served with process at his place of employment at 2445 Lacy Lane, Carrollton, Texas, 75006. 6. Defendant Ditore-Meo Entertainment Company is a Texas corporation with its

principal place of business in Plano, Texas. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for service of process, Scott Mayo, at 5749 Martin Road, Suite 2106, Plano, Texas, 75024. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 7. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 28

U.S.C. 1338(a) because the action arises under the laws of the United States and claims asserted arise under the Copyright Act. 8. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants because each resides or has

its principal office in this state. 9. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1400(a) since Defendants

are subject to personal jurisdiction in this District and Division. Venue is also proper in this

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Court pursuant to: 28 U.S.C. 1391(b)(2) and (c), as one or more of the Defendants resides in this District; and 28 U.S.C. 1391(b)(3), as a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims occurred in this District. FACTS 10. Plaintiffs Brown, Galindo, and King, as the band This Will Destroy You, wrote

and recorded the songs There are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease, Quiet, The World Is Our _________, Freedom Blade, and They Move on Tracks of Never-Ending Light. They own the federally registered copyrights in the compositions of those songs.

Plaintiff Magic Bullet Records is This Will Destroy Yous record label. Magic Bullet Records recorded the bands songs listed above and released them on the albums entitled Young Mountain (2006), S/T (2008) and Field Studies (2011). Magic Bullet Records owns the federally registered copyrights in those albums, including the sound recordings of the songs listed above. 11. This Will Destroy You is an extremely successful band. It tours regularly, both

domestically and internationally. Its cinematic-feeling instrumental music regularly earns tensof-thousands of dollars in licensing revenue from individual agreements for very limited uses. Its music was featured in, among other things, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic broadcasts, the 2013 Super Bowl broadcast, the 2012 Academy Awards broadcast, and in the feature film Moneyball. Because it is instrumental and dramatic, Plaintiffs work is especially appealing as background for video and film. 12. In their licensing agreements, Plaintiffs carefully restrict the period of use (in days

or months), the audience for such use (including whether any online use is permitted), and the run-time of any particular use (in seconds or minutes). Plaintiffs are also careful to avoid licensing their compositions and recordings for purposes that they consider to be controversial.
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13.

Defendant e3 Partners Ministry is a non-profit organization. Its focus, according

to its website, is church multiplication, incorporating all the key elements of going, making disciples, and teaching everyday people to start and grow new churches. e3s yearly revenues regularly exceed $17 million. 14. One of e3s campaigns is called I am Second. According to e3, I am Second

is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. 15. Together with Dallas Audio Post, which specializes in sound recording, and the

advertising agency Ditore-Meo, e3 has produced dozens of videos for the centerpiece of I am Second, the modern cinematic website <www.iamsecond.com>. In each professionally

produced, high-definition video, an individual sits in a white chair, addresses a camera in closeup, and tells his or her personal story of adversity and triumph, while music plays in the background. Dallas Audio Post employs Brad Dale, a musician in a band that has opened for This Will Destroy You. Mr. Dale is definitely familiar with the band and its music. He claims to have performed original music composition for the I am Second campaign. Dallas Audio Post, for its part, claims to have performed the sound design, musical score and final mix of the campaign for its client, Ditore-Meo. 16. According to e3, I am Second has been phenomenally indeed,

revolutionarily successful. e3 states that I am Second has received over 1.5 billion media impressions, and claims to have impacted 8 billion lives worldwide. 17. Defendants built I am Second using Plaintiffs work, without seeking, much

less obtaining, Plaintiffs permission. The music playing in the following videos was composed by This Will Destroy You and recorded by Magic Bullet; there are separate copyrights for each
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composition and each recording:1 a. In a video featuring professional stock-car driver Daryl Waltrip, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song There are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease as background music for the video. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. b. In a video featuring professional baseball player Josh Hamilton, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song Quiet. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then

published and sold the video in a book/DVD package entitled I am Second: Real Stories Changing Lives, as well as in a separate DVD entitled Strengthen. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. c. In a video featuring musician Brian Welch, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song Quiet. e3 posted the video on both

<www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then published and sold the video in a book/DVD package entitled I am Second: Real Stories Changing Lives, as well as in a separate DVD entitled Start. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the

In each of the following instances, the music used by Defendants is so similar to Plaintiffs songs as to be indistinguishable from the original recordings. In the event it is determined that Defendants have recreated Plaintiffs works as sound-alike versions, Plaintiffs only claim infringement of the band members copyright in the compositions.

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composition. d. In a video featuring former professional football coach and current television commentator Tony Dungy, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song The World is Our _____. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then published and sold the video in a DVD entitled Champions. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. e. In a video featuring entrepreneur Lisa Luby Ryan, Defendants used a sound-alike version of the This Will Destroy You song Freedom Blade. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then published and sold the video in a DVD entitled Build. These acts violated the band members copyright in the composition. f. In a video featuring professional football player Landry Jones, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song There are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then published and sold the video in a DVD entitled Champions. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. g. In a video featuring actress Janine Turner, Defendants used a sound-alike version of the This Will Destroy You song Freedom Blade. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. These acts violated the band
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members copyright in the composition. h. In a video featuring several NASCAR drivers, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song The World is Our _____. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. i. In a video featuring a gentleman named Jarrett Stevens, Defendants used a soundalike version of the This Will Destroy You song Freedom Blade. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. These acts violated the band members copyright in the composition. j. In a video featuring a gentleman named Nate Larkin, Defendants used the sound recording of the This Will Destroy You song They Move on Tracks of NeverEnding Light. e3 posted the video on both <www.iamsecond.com> and <www.youtube.com>. e3 then published and sold the video in a DVD entitled Build. These acts violated Magic Bullets copyright in the sound recording and the band members copyright in the composition. 18. e3 falsely asserted copyright ownership over the entirety of the videos and DVDs

that included Plaintiffs musical compositions and sound recordings, and misleadingly failed to disclose that they did not own the copyright to the Plaintiffs works. 19. Defendants did not seek, much less pay for, licenses from Plaintiffs. Instead, they

appropriated Plaintiffs works, in whole, made them available to the world on the Internet, and sold videos using them through both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. To this day, despite e3s extraordinary economic performance, Defendants have paid nothing to Plaintiffs for such
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uses or sales, which are ongoing. Had Defendants, as the law requires, come to Plaintiffs ahead of time seeking the licenses for the multiple uses they have made of Plaintiffs multiple works involving years of use, global Internet audiences, and extended run-times the licensing fees, had Plaintiffs been willing to license to Defendants, would have been in the hundreds-ofthousands of dollars, if not the millions. COUNT ONE: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT 20. 21. Plaintiffs incorporate all the above allegations as if fully set forth herein. Defendants actions in copying Plaintiffs recordings and compositions constitute

copyright infringement in violation of the Copyright Act, Title 17 of the United States Code, including 17 U.S.C. 501. Plaintiffs have registered their copyrights in these compositions and recordings with the U.S. Copyright Office. 22. Defendants violations of Plaintiffs copyrights proximately caused actual Further,

damages to Plaintiffs, for which Defendants are jointly and severally liable. Defendants copyright violations were willful. 23.

Plaintiffs seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief, impoundment and

disposition of infringing articles, actual damages and profits as provided in 17 U.S.C. 502505. COUNT TWO: FALSIFICATION OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION 24. 25. Plaintiffs incorporate all the above allegations as if fully set forth herein. e3 Partners false assertion of copyright ownership over the videos and DVDs that

included Plaintiffs musical compositions and sound recordings, and its failure to disclose that it did not own the copyright to the Plaintiffs works, violated and continues to violate 17 U.S.C.

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1202(a) by providing and distributing false copyright management information. 26. Plaintiffs seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief, impoundment,

damages, costs, attorneys fees and remedial modification and/or destruction of e3s products containing false copyright management information, as provided in 17 U.S.C. 1203(a)-(c). JURY DEMAND 27. Plaintiffs hereby request a jury trial on all issues. PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, premises considered, Plaintiffs Magic Bullet Records, Raymond Brown, Jeremy Galindo, and Christopher King pray for the following relief: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Temporary and permanent injunctive relief; Actual and statutory damages as allowed by law; Defendants profits as allowed by law; Costs and attorney's fees as provided by law; Impoundment as allowed by law; Prejudgment and postjudgment interest as allowed by law; Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper. Respectfully Submitted,

By: /s/David P. Lein David P. Lein State Bar No. 24032537 (512) 480-5717 (512) 536-9917 fax dlein@gdhm.com GRAVES, DOUGHERTY, HEARON & MOODY, P.C. 401 Congress Avenue, Suite 2200 Austin, Texas 78701
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ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS MAGIC BULLET RECORDS, RAYMOND BROWN, JEREMY GALINDO, AND CHRISTOPHER KING

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