Case 1:18-cv-25474-RAR Document 256 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/04/2021 Page 5 of 14
Plaintiffs rely on the fact that an MSI individual is listed as the agent for correspondence in the “Jam the Box” and “I Know You Love Me” copyright registration certificates. Id. at 6.
Additionally, Plaintiffs cite to deposition testimony from Nealy, Black, and recording artist Garfield Baker. Id. at 6–7. Baker testified that “maybe Music Specialist Publishing was some kind of d/b/a or whatever of Music Specialist, Inc., but I understood that to be the publishing arm of the Music Specialist Corp.” Id. Black testified “I’m not certain about this because that wasn’t under my direction, I believe that Music Specialist Publishing was a d/b/a of Music Specialist, Inc.” Id. at 9. Nealy testified that MSP was a separately incorporated legal entity from MSI, but then asserted that MSP was “a d/b/a” for MSI. See Dep. of Sherman Nealy [ECF No. 176–15] at 135:1–17, 234:18–25, 235:1–9.
At best, Plaintiffs’ evidence suggests an affiliation between MSI and MSP, which is not enough to satisfy the standing requirement for a copyright infringement suit. For example, in Wallert v. Atlan, the plaintiff brought a copyright infringement claim for a recording he allegedly composed and produced. 141 F. Supp. 3d 258, 264 (S.D.N.Y. 2015). The copyright registration for the recording listed as a copyright claimant a company named Moonstruck. Id. at 276. The plaintiff argued that he had standing because, among other reasons, he was the sole owner of Moonstruck. Id. The court disagreed that this was sufficient to confer standing, holding that
the … claim that Wallert, as owner of Moonstruck, is also the owner of Moonstruck’s copyright ownership of The Rock composition, is legally wrong. A basic tenet of American corporate law is that the corporation and its shareholders are distinct entities. Therefore, an individual shareholder, by virtue of his ownership of shares, does not own the corporation’s assets.
Id. at 276–77 (internal quotations and citations omitted).
Similarly, in Big E. Ent., Inc. v. Zomba Enterprises, Inc., the court held that plaintiff Big East Entertainment did not have standing to sue for infringement of copyrights registered in the
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