## Facts

- Plaintiffs were major motion-picture studios, including The Walt Disney Company, that owned or controlled copyrights in motion pictures distributed on home video.
- Defendant Video 47, Inc. operated a video-rental business in Miami, Florida, doing business as “Video 47.”
- Eduardo Celorio owned and operated the business, and Silvia Celorio was also involved in the store’s operations and finances.
- An anti-piracy investigator (working with industry anti-piracy efforts) obtained counterfeit copies of plaintiffs’ films from Video 47, showing that the store was renting and selling unauthorized videocassettes of copyrighted movies.
- When confronted, defendants attributed the source of the counterfeit movies to third-party suppliers (including purchasing from an individual selling videos from a car trunk).
- Prior to the proceedings culminating in this opinion, the court had entered injunctive relief in the case that barred defendants from further infringement.
- The court issued an Order to Show Cause and held multiple evidentiary hearings to determine whether defendants had violated prior court orders and, if so, what sanctions and relief were proper.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants infringed plaintiffs’ copyrights by renting and selling counterfeit videocassettes of plaintiffs’ motion pictures.
2. Whether defendants’ continued conduct after notice and prior court orders supported a finding of willful infringement.
3. Whether defendants’ conduct violated prior injunctive orders, justifying a finding of civil contempt.
4. Whether Eduardo and Silvia Celorio could be held personally liable based on their control over and participation in the infringing acts.
5. What relief the court should award, including the scope of permanent injunctive relief, statutory damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

## Decision

- The court found that defendants rented and sold counterfeit/unauthorized copies of plaintiffs’ motion pictures, infringing plaintiffs’ copyrights.
- The court determined defendants’ infringement was willful, based on repeated notice of plaintiffs’ rights and continued misconduct after court-ordered injunctive relief.
- The court held defendants in civil contempt for violating the court’s prior injunction.
- The court held Video 47, Inc., and Eduardo and Silvia Celorio liable and entered broad permanent injunctive relief barring further unauthorized reproduction or distribution (including by rental) of plaintiffs’ works and dealings in counterfeit videocassettes.
- The court awarded monetary relief measured by statutory damages and awarded plaintiffs attorneys’ fees and costs.

## Legal Principles

- Copyright owners hold the exclusive right to distribute copies of their works, including distribution “by rental, lease, or lending”; renting counterfeit copies infringes that right.
- A defendant’s continued infringement after warnings and court orders supports a finding of willfulness.
- Civil contempt sanctions may be imposed for violation of a copyright injunction; where actual damages are difficult to quantify, courts may use the Copyright Act’s statutory-damages framework as a measure of compensatory relief.
- Corporate officers or individuals who direct, control, or substantially participate in infringing activity, and who benefit financially from it, may be personally liable for infringement.
- Repeated infringement and violation of injunctions justify broad injunctive relief, along with fee and cost awards permitted by the Copyright Act.

## Conclusion

In *Walt Disney Co. v. Video 47, Inc.*, the Southern District of Florida held that a video store and its operators infringed by renting and selling counterfeit videocassettes of copyrighted films and, because the conduct continued after prior injunctive orders, found the defendants acted willfully and were in civil contempt, ordering broad permanent injunctive relief plus statutory-damages-based monetary sanctions and attorneys’ fees and costs.


Walt Disney Co. v. Video 47, Inc., 972 F. Supp. 595 (1996)