Steps Apparel Group sues Emme doing business as Rain & Rose over three registered fabric designs

The complaint

Steps Apparel Group, Inc. v. Emme, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-12270 (C.D. Cal.), was filed October 20, 2026. The complaint is Document 1, runs 26 pages including exhibits, and demands a jury. The plaintiff is Steps Apparel Group, Inc., a California corporation based in Los Angeles. The defendants are Emme, Inc., which the complaint alleges on information and belief is a California corporation based in Los Angeles doing business as Rain & Rose, and Does 1 to 10. The complaint is signed by Henry Hwang of Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty Mickus in Irvine, California. It pleads jurisdiction under 17 U.S.C. 501 and 28 U.S.C. 1338(a), and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1391(b) and 1400(a). (Compl. caption; paras. 1 to 6.)

The fabric designs

The complaint describes Steps as a Los Angeles manufacturer and wholesaler of women's garments whose designers create fabric designs that Steps registers with the Copyright Office. It identifies three registrations: VAu 1-486-290, effective October 18, 2022, content title SDD09007-20%; VAu 1-550-816, effective October 15, 2024, content title SDF09017; and VAu 1-585-002, effective January 27, 2026, content title 2230242, with copies attached as Exhibits 1 to 3. (Compl. paras. 8 to 11.)

The certificates and the Copyright Office records show each of the three as a registration for a group of unpublished works. VAu 1-585-002, effective January 27, 2026, covers four designs with a 2022 year of completion, among them 2230242. The complaint's common law claim alleges that the Fabric Designs have been widely disseminated and published since at least in or about October 2022. (Compl. para. 27; Exhibits 1 to 3.)

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that the defendants operate an online store at rainandrose.com that sells women's garments, and that in or about 2026 Steps discovered garments offered for sale on that website with fabric designs identical to each of the Fabric Designs. It alleges that the defendants copied, reproduced, duplicated, distributed, and displayed the Fabric Designs and/or derivative works without permission, and that they continued after Steps gave written notice and demanded that they cease and desist in or about February 2026. Exhibits 4 to 6 show Rain & Rose product pages for floral garments, and Exhibit 5 also includes social media posts. (Compl. paras. 13 to 19; Exhibits 4 to 6.)

It pleads four claims against all defendants: copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501(a); common law copyright infringement under California Civil Code 980; unfair business practices under California Business and Professions Code 17200; and unjust enrichment. The copyright claim alleges willful infringement and, in the alternative, seeks statutory damages of up to $150,000 per copyright infringed. The common law claim alleges conduct that supports exemplary and punitive damages. (Compl. paras. 20 to 39.)

Relief sought

The prayer asks for temporary and permanent injunctions against infringing the copyrights in the Fabric Designs and against copying, selling, displaying, or distributing them without authorization; actual damages and profits or, at Steps' election, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504; an accounting and disgorgement or restitution; an asset freeze or constructive trust; damages for copyright infringement and violation of California Civil Code 980; costs; reasonable attorneys' fees; and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. (Compl. pp. 7 to 9.)