$125K Libel Punitive Award Excessive When Jury Found No Compensatory Damages
From today’s decision by Magistrate Judge Robert Lehrburger (S.D.N.Y.) in Webber v. Dash:
At the end of four-day trial, the jury unanimously found the defendants liable for copyright infringement and defamation. The jury awarded $30,000 in damages to Plaintiff Muddy Water Pictures LLC … for infringement of Muddy’s copyright in the film “The List,” later known as “Dear Frank” …; $400,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages to Josh Webber … for defamation; and $125,000 in punitive damages, but zero compensatory damages, to Muddy for defamation. Defendants Damon Anthony Dash … and his production company Poppington LLC … have moved … for [reduction] of punitive damages, or, alternatively, a new trial on punitive damages….
Muddy financed and produced the Film. Webber directed it. Muddy retained Dash and his production company for their celebrity cache[t]. The initial dispute between the parties centered on the extent of Dash’s contribution to the Film and who owned the copyright in the Film. As the evidence clearly showed, and as the jury found, Muddy is the sole owner of the Film copyright. Indeed, from the outset of the case, Dash was preliminarily enjoined from marketing and promoting the Film.
During trial, the Plaintiffs put on overwhelming evidence that the Defendants maliciously defamed both Webber and Muddy. {As the jury awarded punitive damages solely in connection with Plaintiffs’ defamation claims, the Court does not address the copyright aspect of the case other than to the extent it provides context.} Plaintiffs’ defamation claims arose from social media posts Defendants issued in response to the parties’ dispute about who directed the Film and who owned the Film. For instance, in one post, Dash referred to Webber as a “culture vulture” falsely claiming credit for direction of the Film, and to Muddy as paying Webber to take credit for Dash’s work. In another post, on which Dash tagged Variety, TMX, and other media outlets, Dash stated that Muddy “is pretending he owns” the Film, and Webber “(pure culture vulture) is pretending he directed” the Film. The most egregious post, however, came just over two weeks after Plaintiffs filed the initial complaint in this case.
On February 5, 2019, a post appeared on both Dash’s personal Instagram page and Poppington’s Ins
Article from Reason.com
