Jenkins v. Campbell

200 F.R.D. 498, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4532, 2001 WL 370071
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedApril 10, 2001
DocketNo. 5:97-CV-678(WDO)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 200 F.R.D. 498 (Jenkins v. Campbell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jenkins v. Campbell, 200 F.R.D. 498, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4532, 2001 WL 370071 (M.D. Ga. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

OWENS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion to Compel [Tab 103] and Defendants’ Motion for a Protective Order [Tab 109],

INTRODUCTION

As the facts of this case are fully set out in the July 11, 2000 Order granting partial summary judgment for Defendants, a brief synopsis of the pertinent facts will be set out here. Plaintiff filed suit in this case claiming wrongful conduct by the Defendants’ regarding the use of certain music which Plaintiff argues is partially owned by him. Plaintiff argues that he owns the rights to the master recording of “I Walk on Gilded Splinters” which was recorded in late 1969 or early 1970 on the album entitled Ton Ton Maconte!. Plaintiff argues Defendants have used this song in whole or in part contrary to his monetary and proprietary interest. In Plaintiffs Amended Complaint he asserted the following claims against Defendants:

1. Unfair competition in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1);
2. Unfair competition in violation of Georgia Code § 10-1-370 et seq.;
3. Wrongful conduct in violation of Georgia Code § 16-8-60;
4. Conspiracy to:
— defraud the Plaintiff and third parties,
— to commit record piracy,
— to violate the Lanham Act,
— to wrongfully claim copyright in and to the compilation of certain songs allegedly belonging to Plaintiff,
— to violate Plaintiffs rights in and to the commercial use of his name,
— to falsely designate the source of certain songs, and
— to defame Plaintiff.
5. Common law copyright infringement;
6. Unjust enrichment;
7. Defamation;
8. Tortious interference with business relations; and
9. Breach of contract.

On July 11, 2000, this Court entered summary judgment in favor of Defendants on all of the above claims except for (1) the breach of contract claim and (2) the unfair competition claim as it relates to the recent re-release of Ton Ton Macoute! as well as the release of the Duane Allman Anthology both of which contain portions of the song in dispute. Those claims remain to be tried or [500]*500otherwise adjudicated after discovery has been completed.

On November 21, 2000, a discovery conference was held to determine the status of discovery in this case on the remaining claims. The Court instructed all parties to submit to the Court the discovery each wishes to seek in the form of a Motion to Compel as to past discovery and written interrogatories as to future discovery. See Tr. at 11, 14, 21. This was to be completed within 30 days of the conference. Id. The Court also instructed the parties that objections to the requests for discovery would be due within 30 days of receipt of the requests. Id. at 22.

The dispute at this point is over the scope of discovery and the status of the claims remaining after the entry of summary judgment. Plaintiff argues he is entitled to discovery regarding any matter relating to any of the claims as set out in the Amended Complaint. Defendants argue that Plaintiffs are only entitled to discovery on the remaining claims — breach of contract and unfair competition regarding the more recently released albums.

I. Status of Claims Asserted in the Amended Complaint

Plaintiffs rely on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) for the proposition that, regardless of the entry of partial summary judgment in this case, all claims remain viable and thus they are entitled to broad discovery regarding all claims initially asserted. Rule 54 states

In the absence of [the entry of final judgment in a case], any order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties.

FED. R. CIV. P. 54(b).

Plaintiff interprets this rule incorrectly when he relies on it for the argument that all of the initial claims in the Amended Complaint are still viable. While a final judgment disposing of the entire case has not yet been entered, all claims other than the claim for breach of contract and unfair competition have been adjudicated in Defendants’ favor. Consequently, the only parties actually remaining potentially liable in this suit are those who have knowledge of or were involved with the activities which gave rise to those two distinct claims. Therefore, there is no basis for the discovery of any of the individuals or documentary evidence that would lead to evidence regarding any of the claims found in Defendants’ favor on partial summary judgment. Rule 54 only provides that any or all of the findings in the partial summary judgment Order may be revised by this Court at any time prior to the entry of a final judgment disposing of the case as a whole. Based on the rules of procedure and evidence, this concept does not entitle Plaintiff to the extensive discovery he seeks.

II. Scope of Discovery

The starting point for a discussion of the rules governing the scope of discovery is Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This rule states that

Unless otherwise limited by order of the court in accordance with these rules, the scope of discovery is as follows ... Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, ..., which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including ... any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. The information sought need not be admissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). The rule also states that a court may limit discovery when the “burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit, taking into account the needs of the case, ... and the importance of the proposed discovery in [501]*501resolving the issues.” Id. at 26(b)(2). Under certain circumstances, the party from whom discovery is sought may move for a protective order requesting the court to relieve it of the obligation to respond to the discovery requests.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
200 F.R.D. 498, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4532, 2001 WL 370071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-campbell-gamd-2001.