Manning v. TIME, INCORPORATED

233 F. Supp. 985, 143 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 113, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9588
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedSeptember 22, 1964
DocketCiv. A. 14039, Division D
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 233 F. Supp. 985 (Manning v. TIME, INCORPORATED) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manning v. TIME, INCORPORATED, 233 F. Supp. 985, 143 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 113, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9588 (E.D. La. 1964).

Opinion

AINSWORTH, District Judge.

This is a diversity action by a citizen of Louisiana to recover damages from Time, Incorporated, a corporate citizen of New York, for alleged violation of certain “rights of privacy, the rights of property, [and] privileges of complainant.” Complainant states that he obtained a copyright registration of a photograph of a certain creation of his known as “Manning’s Moonball” as well as a copyright registration of the “moon-ball” itself. The ball, manufactured in two sizes, 6 and 7 inches in diameter, represents the moon and depicts in color and contour certain technical information pertaining to that satellite. Time, Incorporated, the publisher of Life Magazine, is alleged to have published a photograph of the “moonball” in Life on two occasions without plaintiff’s consent and without giving credit to plaintiff as the creator of the object, and purportedly representing it to be copyrighted, manufactured or sold by or through another company known as Grossett & Dunlap, thus having the effect of “destroying the sale of the ‘Manning Moonball’ ” and of perpetrating “upon the public confusion as to who was the originator and/or creator of the ‘moonball’.”

The matter is before us on the following motions:

*987 1. Motion of defendant to quash’service and set aside return of service and to dismiss upon grounds of improper service of process, lack of jurisdiction and improper venue.

2. Motion of defendant to quash subpoena for production of documentary evidence.

3. Motion of plaintiff for production, copying and inspection of documents.

4. Supplemental motion of plaintiff for production, copying and inspection of documents.

5. Supplemental and amended motion of defendant to quash service and set aside return of service and to dismiss upon grounds of improper service of process, lack of jurisdiction and lack of venue.

Defendant contends that this court does not have venue of this action; it denies that it is doing business in Louisiana, asserts that its activities within the State are insufficient to conclude that it is present or “may be found” here, and avers that plaintiff’s claim for damages does not result from any of defendant’s business activities in Louisiana. Defendant also argues that the claim made by plaintiff is not a personal action for damages under LSA-C.C. Article 2315, 1 but is in the nature of a suit for copyright infringement or of unfair competition joined with a copyright infringement, the jurisdictional basis therefor being 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a) 2 pertaining to copyrights; that this being so, the special venue provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1400(a) 3 for suits relating to copyrights are applicable rather than the general venue provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c) ' 4 permitting a suit against a corporation in any judicial district where it is incorporated, licensed to do or doing business ; that the requisites of 28 U.S.C. § 1400(a) cannot be met because it should not be held that defendant “resides or may be found” in this judicial district; therefore, in summary, defendant avers that jurisdiction, venue and proper service of process are lacking, requiring dismissal of this action.

Plaintiff argues that his claim is a personal action for damages under LSA-C.C. Article 2315; that the claim is “extra and outside” of damages for copyright infringement “or mixed in with it but certainly not strictly an action of infringement”; that venue and jurisdictional requirements have been met regardless of whether this is an action in tort or for copyright infringement or a combination of both.

We hold that from the pleadings, affidavits and exhibits, plaintiff has a cause of action over which we have jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction is found either under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a), which provides for original and exclusive jurisdiction of the. district courts in actions arising out of copyrights, or under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, involving civil actions between citizens of different states with the requisite jurisdictional amount, or a combination of both.

Venue lies either under 28 U. S.C. § 1400(a), concerning suits relating to copyrights which “may be instituted in the district in which the defendant or *988 his agent resides or may he found,” (emphasis added), or under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c), permitting suits in any judicial district where a corporation is doing business. We construe the phrase in § 1400(a) “may be found” to mean that a corporation is found in any district in which it is doing business. 5 The test under either section is substantially the same.

Defendant has conceded for the purposes of this action that the facts concerning its doing business in Louisiana are essentially the same as they were at the time of the decision of District Judge Edwin F. Hunter, Jr. in Sonnier v. Time, Inc., W.D.La., 1959, 172 F.Supp. 576, 6 in which case affidavits were submitted and summarized by the court as follows:

“[T]hat the defendant has a wide circulation in Louisiana, and that third parties, independent contractors and the U. S. Mail are in essence the media by which this end is achieved; that the solicitation, distribution and circulation of defendant’s magazines and the promotion thereof were and are a continuous and big business; that Time has expressly authorized twelve representatives to solicit subscriptions for it in the state, seven of whom are classified as ‘college bureau representatives’ and five of whom are classified as ‘independent representatives’; that defendant has authorized four large organizations to take subscriptions for it to some of its magazines through subscription campaigns promoted through the active solicitation of the school children of Louisiana; all subscription copies of Time, Inc.’s publications are shipped by U. S. Mail direct from Time, Inc.’s printing plants (none of which are in Louisiana); in the case of news stand distribution, the magazines are bundled at the printing plants for distribution by truck or railway express to various local distributors in Louisiana and elsewhere, who in turn distribute the magazines to news stands for sale; the distributors acquire the magazines by outright purchase from Time, Inc.”

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Related

Time, Inc. v. Frank Manning
366 F.2d 690 (Fifth Circuit, 1966)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
233 F. Supp. 985, 143 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 113, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9588, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manning-v-time-incorporated-laed-1964.