Brooklyn gallery sued over Jay-Z figurines loses separate eviction fight by default
A judge struck AM:PM's defenses and cleared its landlord to seek a warrant after the gallery and its owner skipped a June 2 court date.
Law and Crime
The Brooklyn art gallery accused of copying a Jay-Z portrait to sell figurines has lost its separate eviction case by default after it and its owner failed to appear in court.
Civil Court Judge Rena Malik entered the default June 2 when AM:PM Gallery and owner Joseph Diaz did not appear for a hearing set that day, court records show.
The order strikes the answer Diaz filed and dismisses the gallery's counterclaims, records show. It also gives the landlord, Marcy Bor, the green light to seek a default judgment and a warrant to evict through the city marshal.
The landlord sued the gallery in January, saying it owed $25,210.72 in rent and late fees dating to October, Urgent Matter previously reported.
Jay-Z figurine copyright lawsuit heads for dismissal
The lawsuit was filed by August Image, which alleged that Brooklyn’s AM:PM Gallery infringed the copyright of photographer Timothy White.
Adam Schrader
Diaz had fought the case himself. In his answer, he said the rent had already been paid through an online portal and that he had the receipts.
He also alleged the building had problems the landlord never fixed, including water damage, cracks in the basement, debris falling off a brick wall and a "rat problem."
The eviction closed in as the gallery appeared to reach a confidential settlement in a federal copyright lawsuit against it for allegedly infringing on a photographer's image of rapper Jay-Z.
The photo agency August Image sued the gallery in November on behalf of photographer Timothy White, accusing it of selling "Jaybois" figurines modeled on White's photograph of a young Jay-Z.
In an order filed May 28, U.S. Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl granted the parties' joint request to extend the gallery's deadline to respond to the complaint after they said they had "reached a confidential settlement agreement.
Follow along with other lawsuits at Urgent Matter's art lawsuit tracker.
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