Suspended Firm Can’t Defend Copyright Infringement Claims: Plaintiff

Defendant Frolic Pictures’ California corporate license is suspended, depriving it of its ability to “defend an action brought against it,” said plaintiff Redoak Communications in its response Friday (docket 9:23-cv-80008) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in West Palm Beach to Frolic’s affirmative defenses (see 2305170015). Redoak alleges Frolic and 13 other defendants, including Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, sold DVD copies online of the 1981 horror film Just Before Dawn without authorization. Though Frolic has now hired an attorney who filed an appearance in the case, “there is some authority that a suspended California corporation cannot even retain an attorney to act on its behalf,” said Redoak. Should Florida law be applied, similar rules would prohibit Frolic from defending the case, it said.