Opinion
CV-24-00427-PHX-KML
12-18-2024
Joe Hand Promotions Incorporated, Plaintiff, v. ECM Enterprises LLC, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
HONORABLE KRISSA M. LANHAM UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Joe Hand Promotions Inc. seeks default judgment. (Doc. 21.) According to that motion, the amended complaint filed on May 30, 2023, “charged the Defendants with a violation of Section 705 of the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 553 and 605.” (Doc. 21-1 at 2.) The amended complaint, however, asserts a single claim for copyright infringement “in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501.” (Doc. 6 at 6.) The Copyright Act found in Title 17 is not the same as the Communications Act found in Title 47. See Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. v. Maupin, No. 215CV06355ADSAKT, 2018 WL 2417840, at *8 (E.D.N.Y. May 25, 2018) (noting “the Copyright Act and the Communications Act . . . vindicate[] separate rights”). And the court cannot grant default judgment on claims not alleged in the operative complaint. See Cripps v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., 980 F.2d 1261, 1267 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[N]ecessary facts not contained in the pleadings, and claims which are legally insufficient, are not established by default.”).
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED the Motion for Default Judgment (Doc. 21) is DENIED. Plaintiff shall file a renewed motion for default judgment no later than December 27, 2024. Failure to file a motion for default judgment will result in the dismissal of this suit for failure to prosecute.