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Comment by Charles Cronin

Even federal district court judges are fallible, not to mention gullible. In his opinion of August, 2014 (file below) Judge Hellerstein held the defendant liable for copyright infringement. His holding was based on his unfortunate finding that the plaintiff’s story of authorship of the work in question, “Loca con su Tiguere,” was more credible than the defendant’s.

Imagine Hellerstein’s chagrin and mortification when he subsequently learned that, in a bungled ruse by which to extract funds from the deep-pocketed Sony Corporation, the evidence of original authorship submitted by the plaintiff was manufactured, and that “…if credited, clearly establishes that Plaintiff attempted to commit a fraud upon this court, going so far as to fabricate evidence and to commit perjury.” (Fittingly, Latin Word of the Day defines “tiguere” as “a hustler or thug, or otherwise shady person”.)

In what may have been a desperate attempt to save face, or fend off criminal and disciplinary proceedings, the plaintiff appealed Hellerstein’s April, 2015 suspension of his prior finding of liability (file below). In 2016 Hellerstein granted the defendants’ motion for an award of attorney fees, and sanctions against the plaintiff’s attorney James Sheinbaum (file below).

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Judge Hellerstein’s Opinion (April, 2014): PDF

Judge Hellerstein’s Suspension of Earlier Judgment and Order for Evidentiary Hearing (August, 2015): PDF

Judge Hellerstein’s Order Granting Defendants’ Motion for Sanctions (March, 2016): PDF