JAMES LAWRENCE KING, District Judge.
Plaintiff Raanan Katz is a real estate developer and minority owner of the Miami Heat. Defendant Irina Chevaldina is the proprietor and author of several blogs critical of Katz and his business activities. In his Amended Complaint (DE # 10), filed June 12, 2012, Plaintiff alleges that he owns the copyright in a picture of himself photographed in Israel in early 2011 (the "Image") and that Defendant reproduced the Image on multiple occasions without permission. (DE # 1, ¶¶ 7-9). Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant's unauthorized use of the Image constitutes copyright infringement, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 501, by violating Plaintiffs exclusive rights in the Image. (Id. at ¶¶ 13-14). He seeks actual damages as well as a permanent injunction against Defendant "copying, displaying or otherwise using the Image" and an order that Defendant destroy any existing copies of the Image. (Id. at ¶¶ (A)-(D)). Defendant, in her Second Motion to Dismiss, does not dispute Plaintiffs factual pleadings. Indeed, she acknowledges using the Image without permission. See, e.g., (DE # 14, p. 7) ("Chevaldina's use of the image for commentary and criticism of Katz is a classic fair use."). Instead, Defendant claims that copyright's fair use doctrine, which provides a full affirmative defense to a copyright infringement claim when applicable, see Latimer v. Roaring Toyz, Inc., 601 F.3d 1224, 1239 (11th Cir.2010), immunizes her from liability.
The question now before the Court is whether Defendant's fair use defense is ripe for determination on a motion to dismiss.
To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the complaint must include "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face," Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The court generally is limited in its review to the "four corners of the complaint," Speaker v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 623 F.3d 1371, 1379 (11th Cir.2010), and must accept all well-pled factual allegations as true. Erickson) v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). The Court does not make factual determinations in evaluating a motion to dismiss. Hawthorne v. Mac Adjustment, Inc., 140 F.3d 1367, 1370 (11th Cir.1998). If the complaint's allegations are plausible under the alleged facts, then the court must view them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Am, Dental Ass'n v. Cigna Corp., 605 F.3d 1283, 1289 (11th Cir.2010).
It is easy to see why a fair use defense typically cannot be analyzed upon a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. "Fair use is a mixed question of law and fact." Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Eiders., 471 U.S. 539, 560, 105 S.Ct. 2218, 85 L.Ed.2d 588 (1985). There is no categorical list of fair uses, but criticism, commentary, news reporting, parody, and teaching tend to lend themselves to such a finding. See 17 U.S.C. § 107. The court's determination involves weighing at least four statutory factors,
There is little judicial precedent — and none in this Circuit or Court — to the contrary. Indeed, this Court's Rule 12(b)(6) cases cited by Defendant have no connection to copyright law and are inapplicable to this case.
First, in Brownmark the plaintiff alleged a single infringing use: the defendant's derivative exploitation of the plaintiff's copyrighted video in one episode of "South Park" titled "Canada on Strike." In the instant case, Plaintiff Katz alleges that Defendant Chevaldina has published numerous infringing copies of the Image. At least one of those copies was published after the initiation of the above-styled action and in direct reference to this lawsuit. See (DE # 14-1, p. 16). Accordingly, whereas "South Park's" fair use argument could be evaluated within a single context, the Court's analysis of Defendant Chevaldina's fair use argument may differ depending on the various contexts of the Image's use.
Second, the plaintiff in Brownmark did "not even bother[] to address the substance of the fair use question, providing th[e] court with absolutely no indication of any evidence or factors outside of the episode in question that could even possibly influence the resolution of the fair use issue in the plaintiffs favor." Brownmark Films, LLC v. Comedy Partners, 800 F.Supp.2d 991, 999 (E.D.Wis.2011). Conversely, in the instant case Plaintiff filed a lengthy Response to the motion to dismiss (DE # 18) that focuses on refuting Defendant's fair use defense.
Third, the Seventh Circuit in Brownmark emphasized that a fair use defense in which the infringing work is parody is
Accordingly, after careful consideration and the Court being otherwise fully advised, it is
17 U.S.C. § 107.