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Shepard v. Wo Hop City Inc.

T-Shirts' Dragon Design Sufficiently Original, Protectable to Trigger Copyright Protection

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OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiffs Shirley Shepard and Andrea Shepard (“the Shepards”) bring this copyright infringement action against Defendant Wo Hop City, Inc. (“Wo Hop”) under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq. (Dkt. No. 16.) Wo Hop moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6) to dismiss the operative complaint for failure to state a claim. (Dkt. Nos. 13, 17.) For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.I. BackgroundThe following factual allegations are taken from Plaintiffs’ first amended complaint (Dkt. No. 16) and are assumed to be true for purposes of deciding this motion.The Shepards, mother and daughter, are designers who created and own a graphic design (the “Alla Prima Dragon”) that resembles a dragon in the Chinese zodiac. (Dkt. No. 16 (“FAC”)

3, 7, 9.) The Alla Prima Dragon depicts a dragon resting on its clawed feet, with its tail arched towards its mouth. (See Dkt. No. 16-1 at 4.) Surrounding the dragon are various cloud-shaped patterns. (Id.) The Shepards have registered their copyright in the Alla Prima Dragon with the U.S. Copyright Office, effective December 8, 2017. (FAC 18; see also Dkt. No. 16-1.)In or around 1993, the Shepards met with a representative of Wo Hop, a famous Chinese restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown, and showed him a selection of t-shirt designs, including one bearing the Alla Prima Dragon. (FAC

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