Avanti Press sues 208 Schedule A sellers over a cat reading newspaper greeting card, and the court questions joinder

The complaint

Avanti Press, Inc. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, No. 1:26-cv-12214 (N.D. Ill.), was filed October 6, 2026. The complaint is signed by Keith A. Vogt of Keith A. Vogt PLLC in North Miami Beach, Florida, and six attorneys of JiangIP LLC in Chicago filed appearances for Avanti Press the same day. The case is assigned to Judge Jorge L. Alonso, with Magistrate Judge Beth W. Jantz designated. The Schedule A filed with the complaint lists 208 defendants.

The work

The complaint asserts one registration, VA 1-748-967, for a greeting card titled "Cat Reading Newspaper" (Greeting Card #02660), and alleges that Avanti Press owns it. It alleges, on information and belief, that the registration's effective date predates the defendants' infringement. The certificate, attached to the complaint as Exhibit 1, gives an effective date of September 17, 2010 and a first publication date of August 15, 2010. It excludes from the claim the underlying photographs of the cat (without glasses and newspaper) and of the couch and pillow, and claims the digital manipulation of photographs to create a photo collage.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that the defendants are individuals and businesses that, on information and belief, reside in China or other foreign jurisdictions and run online stores designed to look like authorized sellers of Avanti Press products. It alleges the stores target Illinois, accept U.S. dollars and, on information and belief, have sold infringing products to Illinois residents. It alleges the stores share unique identifiers, such as design elements and similarities among the products offered.

Count I alleges that each defendant, without permission, sold pirated derivative works of the Avanti Press work through online marketplace listings, violating the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution and public display, citing 17 U.S.C. 106(1), (2), (3) and (5).

Relief sought

The complaint asks for temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctions barring use of the work and control of the defendant stores, a judgment of willful infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501, actual or statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504 at Avanti Press's election, and attorney's fees and costs.

Joinder

On October 7, 2026, Judge Alonso, on the court's own motion, raised whether the 208 defendants can be properly joined in one action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20. The minute order gave Avanti Press until October 16, 2026 to file a memorandum on joinder or, in the alternative, an amended complaint with a smaller subset of defendants and a memorandum explaining why that subset is properly joined, "bearing in mind that Rule 20(a)'s requirement for a common transaction or occurrence is not satisfied where multiple defendants have merely infringed the same intellectual property." The order denied Avanti Press's motion for expedited discovery without prejudice and struck the October 13 presentment hearing.

Avanti Press filed its joinder memorandum on October 16, 2026. It asks the court to find joinder proper as to all 208 defendants or, at a minimum, as to each of two groups defined by an added slogan. It says 174 of the 208 stores sell one of two derivative designs built from the work, 85 with the slogan "Reading Because Murder Is Wrong" and 89 with "That’s What I Do, I Read Books and I Know Things," and that the stores in each group repeat the same layout and listing titles across marketplaces. If the court finds any defendant misjoined, it asks that the claim be severed rather than dismissed.