It was another win for YouTuber and dance icon Christopher “Denver Metro Audits” Cordova late Thursday when a defense motion to dismiss his lawsuit against attorney Lee Rapkin was scathingly denied by United States Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins, who quoted the on-going Cordova v. Huneault lawsuit as part of his decision.
Canadian attorney Rapkin represented a YouTuber only known as “The Exposer,” who used all of or portions of 17 of videos from Cordova YouTube channel’s without permission. Cordova filed Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices for alleged copyright infringement and Rapkin filed a counter notification to restore the videos on behalf of her client.
In that counter notification, Rapkin refused to provide the information of her client and instead provided her own contact information. She also swore under oath and under penalty of perjury that the videos were removed by mistake or misidentification.
She also swore that each of the videos were “significantly transformed by detailed editing and elaborate commentary throughout” despite at least 8 of the 17 videos containing no commentary of any kind.
Denver based YouTuber Cordova sued to prevent the videos from being reinstated and Rapkin filed a motion to dismiss stating that Cordova did not sufficiently allege damages under the DMA or that she knowingly materially represented the facts.
Rapkin has remained steadfast in protecting The Exposer’s identity and The Exposer has made a number of statements in livestreams that his identity will never be revealed to the court. The Exposer is now separately represented by “Superstar” Steve Vondran in the matter.
Judge Cousins wrote:
“Rapkin argues that Plaintiff has failed to sufficiently allege both that Rapkin had “some actual knowledge” or was willfully blind that the 17 videos did not contain commentary or were not subject to fair use. Mot. at 7. The Court finds Plaintiff sufficiently alleged willful blindness.
Rapkin argues that Plaintiff did not allege facts that sufficiently demonstrated willful blindness because there are no facts plausibly establishing that Rapkin knew that there was a high probability that the subject representations were false. Mot. at 8. It is insufficient for Plaintiff to merely show that the Counter-Notice was “objectively false.” Opp’n at 8. Plaintiff also must allege that Rapkin knew that there was a high probability that the subject videos did not contain commentary. Lenz, 815 F.3d at 1155. Plaintiff did so. Plaintiff alleges that Rapkin withheld the Exposer’s identity and that the Exposer “publicly boasted about hiding behind Attorney Rapkin and a purported corporate entity to evade accountability, taunting Plaintiff that his identity would never be discovered and he therefore could not be held liable.” FAC ¶¶ 13, 70. Drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiff, these allegations support a reasonable inference that Rapkin knew that the Exposer’s subject videos did not contain commentary and was therefore not subject to fair use. Further, Plaintiff sufficiently alleged that Rapkin took deliberate actions to avoid confirming that the subject videos did not contain commentary by not reviewing the videos. FAC ¶ 40.
As such, the Court finds that Plaintiff sufficiently showed that Rapkin knowingly made misrepresentations in the Counter-Notice because she was willfully blind.”
Judge Cousins’ decision comes less than a week after Cordova, who is represented by That Randall S. “The Unhinged Attorney” Newman, scored a major victory in his lawsuit against Jonathan “Frauditor Troll” Hudon-Huneault when the judge in that lawsuit denied Hudon-Huneault’s request to halt discovery for the plaintiff and allow Hudon-Huneault to essentially bypass outstanding motions to have his newer motions heard out of order.
Cousins has ordered Rapkin to file a responsive pleading within 14 days of Thursday’s decision.
This is a breaking news story.
