Just in time for Halloween comes a droll “troll” decision by Judge Denise Cote out of the United States District Court for The Southern District of New York. The Southern District is the federal court that covers Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester and Rockland Counties.

Several months ago we wrote about a decision made by Judge Cote dated February 22, 2018 which stated in part that, “Plaintiff’s counsel Richard Liebowitz is a known copyright “troll”, filing over 500 cases in this district in the past 24 months”.  See “Trolls Who Live Under Bridges Upset By Judge’s Comparison” .

On October 26, 2018 Judge Cote rendered yet another decision regarding Mr. Liebowiz and again found him be a “copyright troll”. That decision in its entirety is linked as follows: Troll-MemorandumOpinionAndOrder.  In our opinion, court decisions are always good reading.

It seems that Mr. Liebowitz sought to have the description of him by the court as a “copyright troll” removed from prior court decisions. His attempt was unsuccessful.  Judge Cote noted among other things that:

* Mr. Liebowitz had filed over 700 lawsuits just in The Southern District alone over a period of about 2 years;

* That “in some instances cases were dismissed because Mr. Liebowitz failed to prosecute his client’s claims”;

* That “a number of (his) cases were dismissed as frivolous;

* That another judge, Judge Kaplan, awarded $121,000 in attorney’s fees against a client of Mr. Liebowitz in three other related copyright infringement cases that were dismissed by the court;

* “Mr. Liebowitz has been admonished (by another judge) for repeating arguments that ‘have no basis in law’;

*  (His) office “has filed 200 copyright cases in this District in 2018 alone with an astonishing rate of voluntary dismissals and quick settlements”

Judge Cote capped her decision by stating, “It is indisputable that Mr. Liebowitz is a copyright troll”. In the legal profession as in photography, reputation is everything.

Lastly, as a reminder this Halloween season- Don’t let the hobgoblins get ya!!