Lukes v. KRE Publishing, LLC, 6:18-cv-06613

Plaintiff Amanda Lukes filed a copyright action alleging an unwritten publishing agreement with KRE Publishing, LLC and Ryan Breen to distribute two literary works and pay her 40% of gross sales; she claims defendants failed to account or pay and continued distribution after she terminated rights.
Lukes registered the works with the Copyright Office and served the defendants; defendants failed to timely answer and the Clerk entered default on October 16, 2018.
Lukes moved for default judgment seeking monetary relief, injunctive relief (stop distribution), impoundment of copies, and an accounting.
Defendants (pro se) submitted a letter stating they had been negotiating with plaintiff’s counsel, had provided an accounting, and offered to resolve the dispute; they cited financial hardship and declined counsel.
The court evaluated the motion under Rule 55 standards, emphasizing that default concedes liability allegations but not damages, and that courts consider willfulness, meritorious defenses, and prejudice when deciding default-judgment motions.
The court denied the default-judgment motion without prejudice, granted Breen 60 days to obtain counsel or file a responsive pleading (or state intent to proceed pro se), and ordered KRE Publishing, LLC (a corporation) to obtain counsel and answer within 60 days or face possible default judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether default judgment should be entered after Clerk entered default	Lukes urged entry of default judgment to obtain damages, injunction, impoundment, and accounting	Defendants contended they were negotiating, submitted an accounting, offered resolution, and are proceeding pro se for financial reasons	Denied without prejudice: court refused default judgment because plaintiff failed to show willfulness or prejudice and defendants engaged in settlement efforts
Whether default establishes liability and damages	Lukes relied on default entered to establish liability and sought relief	Defendants’ communications challenged aspects and sought to resolve; did not ignore suit	Court noted default concedes well-pleaded liability but not damages; damages require court inquiry
Whether pro se defendants should be treated leniently	Implicitly argued for enforcement of default judgment	Defendants argued financial hardship and pro se status; attempted to comply and negotiate	Court afforded leniency: granted Breen 60 days to obtain counsel or file pleading; allowed pro se option if notified
Whether corporation may proceed pro se	Plaintiff sought judgment against corporate defendant	KRE Publishing failed to retain counsel and proceeded without attorney	Court ordered corporation to retain counsel within 60 days, warning failure may lead to default judgment

Greyhound Exhibitgroup, Inc. v. E.L.U.L. Realty Corp., 973 F.2d 155 (2d Cir.) (default concedes well-pleaded allegations of liability but not damages)
Credit Lyonnais Sec. (USA), Inc. v. Alcantara, 183 F.3d 151 (2d Cir.) (district court must ascertain damages with reasonable certainty after default)
Pecarsky v. Galaxiworld.com, Ltd., 249 F.3d 167 (2d Cir.) (factors for relieving default: willfulness, meritorious defense, prejudice)
Enron Oil Corp. v. Diakuhara, 10 F.3d 90 (2d Cir.) (district court has discretion on default judgments and assessing parties’ conduct)
Rowland v. Cal. Men's Colony, 506 U.S. 194 (U.S. 1993) (corporations must be represented by licensed counsel in federal court)
Sieck v. Russo, 869 F.2d 131 (2d Cir.) (default judgment appropriate when defendants flout court orders; court may use lesser sanctions first)