Arma v. Buyseasons, Inc.

591 F. Supp. 2d 637, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99724, 2008 WL 5170193
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided December 8, 2008·No. No. 07 Civ. 10967·Published·Cited by 49 cases

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendants Buyseasons, Inc. (“Buysea-sons”) and Jalem Getz (“Getz”) (collectively, the “Defendants”)1 have moved pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2), 12(b)(3) and 12(b)(6), Fed. R. Civ. P., to dismiss the Amended Complaint of Plaintiffs Tom Arma (“Arma”), Tom Arma Studios, Inc. (“Arma Studios”) and Tom Arma Costumes, Inc. (“Arma Costumes”) (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”), or in the alternative, to transfer the action to the Eastern District of Wisconsin. As set forth below, the motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. The motion to transfer is denied.

I. PRIOR PROCEEDINGS AND FACTS

This action was commenced on December 3, 2007, and an Amended Complaint was filed on January 11, 2008. The instant motion was heard and marked fully submitted on March 26, 2008.

According to the Amended Complaint, Arma, who resides in Arizona, is a leading commercial photographer and costume designer. Am. Compl. ¶ 5. Arma “does business in the form and style of the co-Plaintiff corporations,” Arma Studios and Arma Costumes, which are both Arizona corporations with their principal places of business in Tubac, Arizona. Id. ¶¶ 5-7. Arma Studios is engaged in the creation and licensing of photographic images, while Arma Costumes is engaged in the “creation, design, manufacture and licensing” of children’s costumes. Id.

[642] Buyseasons, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New Berlin, Wisconsin, is an internet costume retailer. Id. ¶ 9. Buyseasons sells costumes through its principal website, www. buycostumes.com. Getz Aff. ¶ 2 n. 1. The Amended Complaint alleges that Getz, a resident of Wisconsin, is the President, CEO, and principal shareholder of Buysea-sons. Id. ¶ 10.

On May 24, 2004, Plaintiffs and Buysea-sons entered into a written “Exclusive OnLine Distribution Agreement” whereby Buyseasons agreed to distribute Tom Arma brand costumes on Buyseasons’ website (the “Distribution Agreement”). Id. ¶ 2, Ex. D. Under the Distribution Agreement, Plaintiffs licensed their intellectual property, including trademarks and photographic images, to the Defendants. After several extensions, the Distribution Agreement expired on November 15, 2007. Id. at ¶¶ 32-33. Plaintiffs allege that despite the expiration of the Distribution Agreement, Defendants continued to “trad[e] on the name, trademarks and registered photographic images owned by [Plaintiffs” without authority. Id. at ¶ 3.

Plaintiffs assert that the acts of the Defendants give rise to claims for copyright infringement by Buyseasons, id. ¶¶ 48-54, 55-61; vicarious copyright infringement against Getz, id. ¶¶ 62-75; contributory copyright infringement against Getz, id. ¶¶ 76-90; unfair competition against the Defendants, id. ¶¶ 91-98; false designation and trade disparagement against the Defendants, id. ¶¶ 99-106; dilution against the Defendants, id. ¶¶ 107-111; and breach of contract. Id. ¶¶ 112-115.

II. THE MOTION TO DISMISS UNDER 12(B)(6) IS GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART

Defendants have moved, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract and copyright infringement.

a. The 12(b)(6) Standard

In considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P., the Court construes the complaint liberally, “accepting all factual allegations in the complaint as true, and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor,” Chambers v. Time Warner, 282 F.3d 147, 152 (2d Cir.2002) (citing Gregory v. Daly, 243 F.3d 687, 691 (2d Cir.2001)). However, mere “conclusions of law or unwarranted deductions” need not be accepted. First Nationwide Bank v. Gelt Funding Corp., 27 F.3d 763, 771 (2d Cir.1994) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “The issue is not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims.” Villager Pond, Inc. v. Town of Darien, 56 F.3d 375, 378 (2d Cir.1995) (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). In other words, “ ‘the office of a motion to dismiss is merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof.’ ” Eternity Global Master Fund Ltd. v. Morgan Guar. Trust Co. of N.Y., 375 F.3d 168, 176 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting Geisler v. Petrocelli, 616 F.2d 636, 639 (2d Cir.1980)). However, “[t]o survive dismissal, the plaintiff must provide the grounds upon which his claim rests through factual allegations sufficient ‘to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ ” ATSI Commc’ns, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir.2007) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1965, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

b. The Breach of Contract Claim is Dismissed

At the outset, the Court notes that Plaintiffs did not respond to Defen[643] dants’ arguments in support of their motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim, and therefore the Court may deem the claim abandoned. See, e.g., Abbatiello v. Monsanto Co., 522 F.Supp.2d 524, 530 (S.D.N.Y.2007) (citing, inter alia, In re Refco Capital Mkts., Ltd. Brokerage Customer Sec. Litig., No. 06 Civ. 643(GEL), 2007 WL 2694469, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 13, 2007)); Lipton v. County of Orange, N.Y., 315 F.Supp.2d 434, 446 (S.D.N.Y.2004) (“This Court may, and generally will, deem a claim abandoned when a plaintiff fails to respond to a defendant’s arguments that the claim should be dismissed.” (citing Jessamy v. City of New Rochelle, 292 F.Supp.2d 498, 504 (S.D.N.Y.2003)). Nonetheless, the Court considers the breach of contract claim on its merits, and finds that the claim must be dismissed.

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Arma v. Buyseasons, Inc., 591 F. Supp. 2d 637, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99724, 2008 WL 5170193 (S.D.N.Y. 2008).

591 F. Supp. 2d 637 (Arma v. Buyseasons, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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