## Facts

- Plaintiffs owned copyrights in literary and comic-book works featuring the fictional character Conan and six other Robert E. Howard characters (Kull, Ironhand/Esau Cairn, Bran Mak Morn, Dark Agnes, Solomon Kane, and El Borak) and asserted related trademark and unfair-competition rights.
- Defendant, a Spanish resident, allegedly manufactured and sold unlicensed miniature sculptures depicting those characters.
- The sculptures were marketed and sold through online platforms, including Facebook and Kickstarter, at prices ranging from roughly €27 to €10,000.
- After plaintiffs submitted a DMCA takedown notice to Kickstarter, defendant allegedly filed a counter-notice that allowed the campaign to remain active.
- Plaintiffs supported their claims with copyright registration certificates for the underlying works and a declaration tracing title from the author to plaintiffs.
- Defendant failed to appear; default was entered, and plaintiffs moved for default judgment.
- A magistrate judge recommended limiting relief, reasoning plaintiffs had not sufficiently pleaded ownership/protectability of the characters themselves (as distinct from the underlying works).
- Plaintiffs objected to that recommendation.

## Issues

1. Whether, at the default-judgment stage, plaintiffs sufficiently established ownership of protectable rights in fictional characters by submitting registrations for the underlying works and chain-of-title evidence.
2. Whether plaintiffs were required to provide detailed “metes and bounds” descriptions of each character to obtain default judgment for character-based infringement.

## Decision

- The court sustained plaintiffs’ objections to the magistrate judge’s heightened requirement for character-specific proof.
- The court held plaintiffs’ registrations in the underlying works and uncontroverted ownership evidence were sufficient to establish rights in the characters as embodied in those works for default-judgment purposes.
- The court granted default judgment for plaintiffs on copyright infringement claims covering Conan and the other characters.
- The court also accepted unrebutted allegations supporting related Lanham Act false designation of origin/unfair competition relief.

## Legal Principles

- Copyright protection for fictional characters is not registered “in the abstract”; it arises from the character’s embodiment in copyrighted works of authorship.
- For default judgment, valid copyright registrations and competent chain-of-title evidence can establish ownership and entitlement to enforce rights in characters delineated within the registered works.
- A plaintiff is not required, at the pleading/default-judgment stage, to provide an exhaustive “metes and bounds” character dossier when the character’s protectability and plaintiff’s ownership are supported by registrations and unopposed evidence.

## Conclusion

The court granted default judgment because plaintiffs’ registrations for the works depicting the characters, together with unrebutted chain-of-title proof, adequately established enforceable rights in the characters as embodied in those works, without any separate character registration or heightened descriptive showing.


Conan Props. Int’l LLC v. Sanchez, No. 17-CV-162 (FB), 2018 WL 3869894 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 15, 2018)