Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Plainfield, Indiana – Allen Lee Asher-Butler has filed a copyright infringement suit against Amazon KDP and Jeff Bezos, claiming they are committing copyright infringement regarding four books that he designed and illustrated the covers for. According to Asher, these books, authored by William “Will” Wills, have been sold by Amazon since 2009 without his authorization. Despite submitting a copyright infringement claim to Amazon, Asher asserts that the books have continued to be available in both Kindle and paperback formats.
This is not the first time Asher has pursued legal action against Amazon regarding this dispute. He previously filed a nearly identical lawsuit (see previous blog post), but the court dismissed his case due to procedural issues. Asher filed the original lawsuit in November 2020, but from the outset, he faced difficulties. He filed motions requesting assistance with serving the Defendants, which were both denied in 2021. The court explained that it could not provide service assistance because Asher was not proceeding in forma pauperis, meaning he did not qualify for free legal services. The court also ordered Asher to show cause as to why his case should not be dismissed due to his failure to prosecute the claims.
In January 2022, the court ultimately dismissed Asher’s case without prejudice, stating that his summons did not meet legal requirements and that he had missed the deadline to serve the Defendants. Asher responded by filing a handwritten summons, but this was not sufficient to address the deficiencies in his filing. The court emphasized that Asher had been given multiple opportunities to remedy these issues but failed to do so.
Undeterred, Asher filed a motion to reconsider the dismissal in April 2023, more than a year after the case had been closed. He argued that the case had been closed due to his “failure to respond,” even though he claimed he had never received any communication from the court. However, the court rejected his motion, labeling it as misleading and untimely, and reaffirmed that the dismissal was due to his failure to prosecute his lawsuit, which included not submitting a proper summons.
In July 2024, Asher filed yet another motion, this time seeking to reopen the case, stating that it had been closed for “non-response.” He again asserted that he had not received anything from the court to respond to, but the court found no merit in his claim. After carefully reviewing his motion, the court denied it, noting that Asher’s failure to follow procedural requirements had led to the case’s dismissal and that there were no legitimate grounds to reopen it.
Asher has now filed a new suit citing the same complaints. He is seeking $250,000 in punitive damages for royalties he feels he is owed. Asher has also demanded a jury trial to hear the case.
The case has been assigned to Judge Sarah Evans Barker and Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana Case No. 1:24-cv-01776-SEB-MJD.