Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
Djerrahian v. GG Digital and Russell Simmons
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Edward C. Greenberg, LLC
COUNSELORS AT LAW
570LEXINGTON AVENUE, 19th FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
TELEPHONE: (212) 697-8777
FACSIMILE: (212)697-2528
[email protected]
Tamara L. Lannin
[email protected] OfCounsel:
Debra S. Reiser
May 14, 2014
BY HAND DELIVERV
Rush Communications
Global GrindDigital Inc.
Nashon L. Craig, Esq.
Vice President, Business &Legal Affairs
512 Seventh Avenue, 43rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
Re: Armen Dierrahian w/ Global Grind: Our File C439p/13
Dear Mr. Craig:
We serve as retained copyright litigation counsel to Mr. Armen Djerrahian a
photographer ofconsiderable reputation. This office routinely litigates matters ofthis nature.
^C Wfite ^S^^S the unauthorized uses of our client's image of the performer
Rick Ross". Acopy of our client's image is annexed hereto as Exhibit WAM (the "Subject
Images"). Mr. Djerrahian is the sole owner ofthe Subject Image, for which our client filed
an^apphcation for registration of Copyright on April 4, 2014 (registration pending, case
You have employed our client's registered image at least on your website, "Global
Grind" (www.globalgrind.com), without our client's license, authorization or consent You
have employed our client's Image in aphoto gallery under the heading "15 Rappers With
The Best Ad-Libs (LIST)". You have further employed our client's image in connection
with an article entitled "Stay The F*ck Away... Period! By Russell Simmons". Copies of at
least some of the offending uses are annexed hereto asExhibit "B".
Mr. Djerrahian is well known as the creator of the subject images. Notwithstanding
no one from your company, nor an agent thereof, has ever sought or obtained alicense from
Mr Djerrahian to employ the subject image for any purpose whatsoever. Rather, you appear
to have simply employed the photographs at your election, without a license, authorization
or consentfrom the copyright holder; this directly violates the exclusive rights granted to the
copyright holder of theimages.
As you must be aware, the use of a creator's photographic image without written
consent or license is violative ofthe United States Code, Title 17, and The Copyright Act.
Said federal statute affords the creator a plethora ofremedies including one or more ofthe
following: monetary relief in the form of compensatory and or statutory damages, an award
of attorney's fees and/or an injunction directing removal of the offending materials from the
market placepending litigation.
Our client is committed to protecting his copyright and, as of the date of this letter, is
involved in a litigation regarding the unauthorized use of his images. See inter alia,
Djerrahian v. William Leonard Roberts, II p/k/a Rick Ross et al, 14-Cv-3291 (JPO)
(Southern District of NewYork).
This letter shall serve as notice that You immediately cease and desist any and all
unauthorized uses of our client's image. Any additional or further uses of our client's images
will be at yourperil.
Ifyou are in possession of any contract, license, agreement or writing ofany kind or
nature upon which you intend to rely for the proposition that such usage is authorized or in
the alternative, conclusively establishes that our client's claim is without merit, formal
request is made herein to provide same. Such request is made pursuant to Federal Rule 11 in
a good faith effort to obviate litigation. Failing the production ofsuch license we will be
constrained to assume that such usage is violative of law. In such event, we intend to
institute suit against your production and any other appropriate defendants in the United
States District Court fortheSouthern District of New York forthwith.
In the event you are not in possession ofany exculpatory documents, and pursuant to
our obligations under Rule 11, Rule 130 (and any other substantially equivalent rules or
statutes), formal request is made herein for the following information and documents
reflecting or demonstrating therequested information:
1. The full nature and extent ofthe use ofour client's image, in any and all
formats, inclusive ofthe broadcast media and websites described herein as
well as distribution on any other websites or programs owned, operated, or
affiliated by Your company, inclusive of: adescription ofsuch uses, the
commencement ofthe terms ofsuch use(s), and location(s) ofsuch uses or
display.
2. Representative copies in any and all tangible form and media in which our
client's image were incorporated oremployed;
3. The source ofthe image(s) and the identities ofthe persons or companies
preparing, supplying, editing, and/or producing same;
4. Copies ofwritten agreements or documents, with any and all persons or
entities, referencing the creation, and reproduction regarding the offending
use(s)of our client's image;
5. Copies ofany documents in any format upon which you intend to rely for the
proposition that Mr. Djerrahian had knowledge ofand/or agreed to have his
images published by Your company, inclusive ofany emails or documents of
any kind by and between Your company (and/or those acting on your behalf)
and Mr. Djerrahian (and/or those acting on his behalf);
6. Copies ofany purported license or assignment relating to the images
referenced herein and issued to your company by any third party;
7. The nature and extent ofany prospective iicense(s) you may be seeking to
allowfor prospective authorized use(s), or which will provide adequate time to
remove the offending images from the web obviating plaintiffs need to seek
judicial intervention for the purposes ofobtaining an injunction prohibiting
any and all uses such offending uses ofhis image;
8. Copies ofany copyright registrations filed with any government or agency
thereof referencing, relating or including the imagery complained ofherein;
9. Copies ofwritten agreements or documents, with any and all persons or
entities with whom you have transferred, assigned, licensed, or provided the
image, which reference the subject images and/or any corresponding products
orpublications inwhich the image(s) are employed;
10. The identity ofall third parties to whom You supplied the image(s).
11. Data showing the web traffic and analytics for each page ofYour website that
has employed our client's Image without his license, authorization or consent.
12. Documents reflecting the sales figures and profits realized from use ofour
client's image by You, including but not limited to advertising sales, profits
and revenue for Your website and/or company;
Upon receipt of such information we can fairly consider and determine an
appropriate amount ofcompensation which may or may not include the granting ofalimited
license for prospective use or in the alternative, abrief period of time within which to permit
removal ofthe image from the production. It is not our client's preference to commence
litigation and he would prefer to resolve the matter promptly and amicably. In order to do so,
receipt of the above requested information within seven (7) business days ofdate is essential.
The following is to formally notify you, your company, its agents, employees and
contractors not to destroy, conceal or alter any goods, information, and/or images stored
melectronic form or generated by your computer systems or electronic devices including but
not limited to its web sites. This information appears relevant to the above matters and may
be unavailable from any other source. As you may know, such electronic information can
easily be inadvertently destroyed and the failure to take reasonable measures to preserve it
pending the completion of discovery can result in sanctions being imposed against you or
your company. See, e.g., Cedars Sinai Med. Ctr. v. Superior Ct (1998) 18 Cal 4th 1 74 Cal
Rptr 2d 248; Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC (SDNY 2003) 220 FRD 212, 216
In order to comply with the discovery requests that we will make in this matter you
may need to provide electronic evidence in its native format. You may also need to provide
electronic documents, along with the metadata or information about data that is contained in
those electronic documents. Even when apaper copy of adocument or file exists we will
also seek the documents or files in their electronic format so that we also receive the
information in the metadata. Our discovery requests will include certain data on your hard
drives, floppy discs, and backup files, and will include data not usually available to the
ordinary computer user, such as deleted files and file fragments.
Thus the electronic data and the storage devices in which they are kept that you are
obligatedto maintain andpreserve during the pendency ofthe discovery planned in this case
mclude all of thefollowing dataanddevices:
1. Electronic files including deleted files and file fragments, stored in machine-
readable format on magnetic optical or other storage media, including hard
drives or floppy disks in your client's desktop computers, laptop computers,
home personal computers, zip drives, external hard drives, usb keys, and the
backup media used for each;
2. E-mail, both sent and received, internally or externally;
3. Telephone files and logs such as voicemail and universal mobile
telecommunications systems (UMTS) data;
4. Word processing files, including drafts and revisions;
5.
Spreadsheets, including drafts and revisions;
6. Databases;
7.
Electronic files in portable storage devices such as floppy discs, compact
discs, digital video discs, ZIP drives, thumb drives or pen drives;
8. Graphs charts and other data produced by project management software;
9. Data generated by calendaring, task management and personal information
management software, such as Microsoft Outlook;
10. Data created with the use ofor stored on personal data assistants such as
PalmPilot inclusive ofsubstantially equivalent devices;
11. Data created, derived and/or edited with the use ofediting software such as
Photoshop, Adobe, and any accompanying software;
12. Data created with the use of paper and electronic mail logging and routing
software;
13. Internet and web-browser generated history files, caches, and "cookies"
generated by your client or at the workstation of each employee in your
client's employ and on any and all backup storage media;
14. Logs ofnetwork use by you and your distributors and/or customer's
employees, whether kept in paper orelectronic format;
15. Copies of your backup tapes and the software necessary to reconstruct the data
on those tapes on each and every personal computer or workstation and
network server in your client's control and custody;
16. Electronic information in copiers, fax machines and printers;
17. Web-site files and records of any kind and all histories ofthose files;
18. All records ofsales generated and processed through software for goods
employing the offending image.
19. Records, copies, reproductions and evidence set forth above existing or printed
onphysical paper or paper product(s).
As previously stated, and as your legal counsel will be aware, the failure to maintain
such information, and any other electronic information which may be called upon in
discovery, can lead to severe penalties in the discretion ofthe Court. We strongly urge you to
retain independent legal counsel and provide him/her with a copy of this letter and its
enclosures.
We require delivery ofthe above sought documentation within seven (7) days of date
Absent an exculpatory document or license, any and all uses of our client's images will be
made at your peril. Should we fail to hear from either you or your counsel we will file suit in
the United States District Court against your company and any other appropriate defendants
without further notice.
cc: Armen Djerrahian via e mail
Encl.