Photo Resource Hawaii, Inc. v. American Hawaii Travel, Inc., et al., USDC D. Hawaii

A magistrate judge in the district court in Hawaii made a recommendation and finding to grant plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against a web site operator who posted plaintiff’s photographs without permission, but to deny the plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction, citing post-eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 126 S. Ct. 1837 (2006) cases “frowning upon” the automatic issuance of permanent injunctions upon the entry of a default judgment in a copyright infringement case. Instead, the magistrate recommended a temporary injunction and said an evidentiary hearing should be held if the plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction. The magistrate did recommend that the court grant the plaintiff’s request for statutory damages in the amount of $18,000 for infringement of eight photographs, which was equal to three times the plaintiff’s licensing fee, and the plaintiff’s request for statutory damages in the amount of $30,000 for violating the copyright protection provisions (§ 1203(c)) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.