Major US publishers once again sued Textbookrush.com (formerly Textbooksrus.com) for allegedly importing and selling counterfeit textbooks on their sites and other sales channels! They were first sued by publishers in 2008 for the same reasons and back then, Textbookrus.com settled with the publishers by paying $150,000.00 in damages and entering into a "cease-and-desist" agreement.
The details of that 2008 settlement can be found in the post below and in the legal document here:
Textbooksrus.com Settlement Agreement Legal Document
Here is the detailed timeline and links to the actual legal documents filed in the Southern District of New York for the currently pending lawsuit (Case #: 13-CV-0816).
Plaintiffs: John Wiley and Sons, Cengage Learning, Pearson Education and Elsevier Ltd
Defendants: Book Dog Books LLC and Philip Smyres
1. Feb 4rth, 2013: Major US publishers file a complaint in SDNY alleging Book Dog Books LLC and its principal Mr. Phil Smyres through its website Textbooksrus.com imported and sold counterfeit textbooks to thousands of students across the US.
US Publishers Vs. Phil Smyres, Textbooksrus.com etc. (Complaint)
2. Phil Smyres and Textbooksrus.com filed a motion in SDNY demanding that the case be transferred to their "home district" of Southern Ohio (and out of Southern District of New York).
US Publishers: Why the case should not be transferred to Ohio:
Plaintiffs oppose transfer of case to Southern Ohio
Textbooksrus.com: Why the case should be transferred to Ohio:
Defendants' Reply to plaintiff's opposition to transfer case.
Judge denies Textbooksrus.com's motion to transfer; case stays in SDNY:
Defendants' Motion to Transfer is Denied
3. Now that the case will be heard and settled in New York, the Defendants file the answer to Plaintiff's Amended Complaint:
Textbookrush.com Responds to Amended Complaint
4. Plaintiffs file a statement in court because Textbookrush is not releasing the requested documents which would aid the plaintiffs in their discovery process. The original deadline to submit the requested documents was September 27th, 2013 which the defendants failed to meet:
Plaintiffs alleging Textbookrush not releasing requested documents
5. The Judge directs the defendants to provide all the requested documents by November 15th, 2013 or face sanctions in court.
TextbookRush ordered to release all requested documents by Nov 15, 2013
The Mark Blackerby Angle
Mark Blackerby is an individual residing in Alabama who has allegedly supplied Textbookrush with most of their counterfeit textbooks. MB (with his associate David Knight and his brother Perry Blackerby) has a history with the publishers and the US Customs and Border Protection. In 2006, the USCBP seized a shipment of textbooks being imported by MB from Thailand which were counterfeit. He was sued by the Publishers and agreed to pay $75,000.00 in damages (and got away without going to jail) for the criminal offense. However, in October 2011, he along with his associates was sued again by publishers for importing counterfeit textbooks and selling on his website (booksvalue.com). Mark's brother Perry Blackerby has a Thai wife (Ms. Maliwan Malaisri) who, by virtue of her nationality has multiple connections with professional counterfeiters in Thailand. Using her connections, these individuals imported counterfeit books into the US by the shiploads. One of their main customers is....Textbookrush.com!
Here is a timeline of the lawsuit against the David Knight, Blackerby clan and Ms. Malaisri:
1. Publishers Sue David Knight, Mark and Perry Blackerby
2. Defendants respond to the complaint
3. Judgement to pay $700,000.00 against David Knight, Mark Blackerby and Perry Blackerby
