National Football Scouting, Inc. v. Rang

912 F. Supp. 2d 985, 105 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1074, 2012 WL 6444226, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176905
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedDecember 13, 2012
DocketCase No. 11-cv-5762-RBL
StatusPublished

This text of 912 F. Supp. 2d 985 (National Football Scouting, Inc. v. Rang) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Football Scouting, Inc. v. Rang, 912 F. Supp. 2d 985, 105 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1074, 2012 WL 6444226, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176905 (W.D. Wash. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT

RONALD B. LEIGHTON, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on both parties’ Motions for Summary Judgment. (Dkt. # 31 & 41.) The underlying case involves an alleged copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. Plaintiff National Football Scouting (National) compiles yearly Scouting Reports for twenty one National Football League clubs to use during the Draft. In the Reports, National assigns each player an overall Player Grade, which is a numerical expression representing National’s opinion of the player’s likelihood of success in the NFL. The Scouting Reports are copyrighted as unpublished works and shared only with member clubs.

Defendant Robert Rang is a part-time sports writer who writes about the NFL Draft on Defendant Sports Xchange’s website.1 From 2010 to 2011, Rang published eight articles discussing Player Grades for eighteen college players. National sent Rang a series of cease and desist letters that went largely ignored before it sued for copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Rang seeks summary judgment, arguing that the Player Grades are not copyrightable, that his use of the Player Grades was protected under the “fair-use” doctrine, and that a subjective opinion is not entitled to protection as a trade secret. National responded with its own motion for summary judgment, arguing that the Player Grades are copyrightable as numerical expressions of an opinion, that the fair-use doctrine offers no protection for Rang’s bad-faith dissemination of unpublished work, and that the fact that National assigned a particular Player Grade is a trade secret. Rang seeks summary judgment on the trade secret claim, but argues in the alternative that the issue should go to a jury.

For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on the copyright claim [Dkt. # 31] is GRANTED. Plaintiffs Cross Motion for Summary Judgment on the copyright claim [Dkt. # 41] is DENIED, and the copyright infringement claim is dismissed. Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on the trade secrets claim [Dkt. # 31] is DENIED. Because there are genuine issues of material fact, Plaintiffs Cross Motion for Summary Judgment on the trade secrets claim [Dkt. #41] is also DENIED.

I. Background

Plaintiff National Football Scouting is a scouting organization whose sole purpose is to provide Scouting Reports to its shareholders — twenty one different National Football League Clubs. National’s scouts travel the country to evaluate college talent and to discover player information for the Scouting Reports. (Compl. at 4.) National then organizes the information into Reports and copyrights them as unpublished works. (Cross Mot. for Sum. J. at 3.) The Reports include six pages of information on each prospective draftee, including injuries, the player’s morals and family [989]*989background, and the player’s college statistics. (Def. Reply and Resp. at 2-3.) Based on the player’s information, National assigns over-all Player Grades. (Compl. at 4.)

Member Clubs each pay $75,000 per year for the Reports. (Foster Dec. at 2.) National’s contract with its member Clubs “contain strict confidentiality provisions and significant penalties for breach of those obligations.” {Id. at 4.) The contract states that “the scouting information (including the grades) in the Scouting Reports are trade secrets that derive independent economic value from not being generally known.” {Id.) National also has confidentiality agreements with the computer consulting company it employs to convert the data into electronic files. {Id. at 5.)

Defendant Sports Xchange is a media company that hosts its own Internet websites. (Mot. for Sum. J. at 3-4.) Defendant Robert Rang is a full-time high school teacher who moonlights as a sports writer for Sports Xchange. He is currently a senior NFL Draft analyst for one of Sports Xchange’s website, NFLDraftScout.com. (Rang Dec. at 2.) During 2010-2011, Rang published eight articles on NFLDraftScout.com about players eligible for the upcoming draft. (Compl. at 6-8.) Six of the articles disclose National’s Player Grade, while two of the articles merely allude to the prospective draftees rank among other players. (Rang Dec. Ex. AH.) In total, Rang disclosed eighteen Player Grades.

National wrote a series of letters to Rang, demanding that he stop infringing on their copyright and disclosing their trade secrets. (Foster Dec. at 8-9.) A telephone call from National’s attorneys followed every letter. {Id.) Despite this series of warnings, Rang continued posting the Player Grades. In September 2011, National sued Rang and Sports Xchange for copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Both parties now seek summary judgment. Rang argues (1) that the Player Grades are not copyrightable, (2). that the articles made fair use of the Player Grades, and (3) that the Player Grades are not protected trade secrets. National argues that the opposite conclusions can and should be reached as a matter of law.

II. Analysis

Summary judgment is appropriate when, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact which would preclude summary judgment as a matter of law. Once the moving party has satisfied its burden, it is entitled to summary judgment if the non-moving party fails to present, by affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or admissions on file, “specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party’s position is not sufficient.” Triton Energy Corp. v. Square D Co., 68 F.3d 1216, 1221 (9th Cir.1995). In other words, “summary judgment shoiild be granted where the nonmoving party fails to offer evidence from which a reasonable [fact finder] could return a [decision] in its favor.” Triton Energy, 68 F.3d at 1220.

A. Copyright Infringement

To establish a copyright infringement claim, the owner must prove two elements: (1) ownership of a valid copyright and (2) copying of original elements of the work. Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc., 499 U.S. 340, 345, 111 S.Ct. 1282, 113 L.Ed.2d 358 (1991). While the parties do not dispute that Rang copied the Player [990]*990Grades, Rang argues that the Player Grades are not a valid copyright and that, even if they are, he is entitled to the fair use defense.

1. Valid Copyright

Rang argues that the Player Grades lack the originality required for copyright protection. National argues that, although the Scouting Report is copyrighted as a compilation, the Player Grade is copyrighted as a text expression of a professional opinion. “To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original to the author.” Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
510 U.S. 569 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp.
336 F.3d 811 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)
Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. v. Passport Video
349 F.3d 622 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)
Southco, Inc. v. Kanebridge Corporation
390 F.3d 276 (Third Circuit, 2004)
Noelia Monge v. Maya Magazines, Inc.
688 F.3d 1164 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
ED NOWOGROSKI INS., INC. v. Rucker
971 P.2d 936 (Washington Supreme Court, 1999)
Silvaco Data Systems v. Intel Corp.
184 Cal. App. 4th 210 (California Court of Appeal, 2010)
Ed Nowogroski Insurance v. Rucker
971 P.2d 936 (Washington Supreme Court, 1999)
Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court
246 P.3d 877 (California Supreme Court, 2011)
Triton Energy Corp. v. Square D Co.
68 F.3d 1216 (Ninth Circuit, 1995)
Agency Solutions.Com, LLC v. Trizetto Group, Inc.
819 F. Supp. 2d 1001 (E.D. California, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
912 F. Supp. 2d 985, 105 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1074, 2012 WL 6444226, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176905, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-football-scouting-inc-v-rang-wawd-2012.