Quill Ink Books Ltd. v. Abcd Graphics & Design, Inc.

361 F. Supp. 3d 1153
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 13, 2019
DocketCase No. CIV-18-920-G
StatusPublished

This text of 361 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (Quill Ink Books Ltd. v. Abcd Graphics & Design, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quill Ink Books Ltd. v. Abcd Graphics & Design, Inc., 361 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (W.D. Okla. 2019).

Opinion

CHARLES B. GOODWIN, United States District Judge

Now before the Court is Defendant Rachelle Soto's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of *1156Personal Jurisdiction and Improper Venue, or in the alternative, to Transfer (Doc. No. 18). Plaintiff Quill Ink Books Limited has responded (Doc. No. 21), and Defendant Soto has replied (Doc. No. 24). Upon consideration of the parties' submissions, the Court grants the Motion.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is an international book publisher with its principal place of business in London, England. Plaintiff brings this action against: Rachelle Soto, an author who resides in Virginia; Defendant Soto's book publisher Blushing Books Publishing ("Blushing Books"), whose principal place of business is in Virginia; and unknown Jane Does and John Does. See Am. Compl. (Doc. No. 6) ¶¶ 8, 10-12. Between January and May 2018, Plaintiff published a three-book romance series titled Myth of Omega. Plaintiff released the first two books of the series to online vendors of e-books and printed books, including Draft2Digital, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes Apple, Rakuten-Kobo, and Google Play. Id. ¶¶ 41, 43, 46. Plaintiff alleges that following this release, Defendants Soto1 and Blushing Books submitted notifications of copyright infringement to these online vendors pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), see 17 U.S.C. § 512,2 in which they claimed that the Myth of Omega series plagiarized Defendant Soto's former works and requested that the vendors cease their sale of the books. Plaintiff contends that Defendants' DMCA notices contained misrepresentations and "false copyright claims." Am. Compl. ¶¶ 73, 76. Plaintiff now seeks declaratory judgment, damages, and injunctive relief for copyright misuse, misrepresentation of copyright claims under the DMCA, negligence, tortious interference with economic advantage, tortious interference with contract or business relations, defamation, false light, and civil conspiracy. See id. ¶¶ 1, 66-112; see also 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), (f).

Defendant Soto has moved for dismissal under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(3) for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue. Alternatively, Defendant Soto requests transfer of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). See Def. Soto Mot. (Doc. No. 18) at 1-18.

STANDARDS GOVERNING PERSONAL JURISDICTION

Where the Court's jurisdiction over a defendant is contested, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that jurisdiction exists. See Wenz v. Memery Crystal , 55 F.3d 1503, 1505 (10th Cir. 1995) ; Benton v. Cameco Corp. , 375 F.3d 1070, 1074 (10th Cir. 2004). In the preliminary stages of litigation, however, "the plaintiff's burden is light." AST Sports Sci., Inc. v. CLF Distrib. Ltd. , 514 F.3d 1054, 1056 (10th Cir. 2008). When a district court considers a pretrial motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction without conducting an evidentiary hearing, "the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction to defeat the motion." Id. at 1057 (citing OMI Holdings, Inc. v. Royal Ins. Co. of Can. , 149 F.3d 1086, 1091 (10th Cir. 1998) ).

*1157For purposes of the plaintiff's prima facie case, the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true but only to the extent they are uncontroverted by the defendant's affidavits. Shrader v. Biddinger , 633 F.3d 1235, 1248 (10th Cir. 2011). "If the parties present conflicting affidavits, all factual disputes must be resolved in the plaintiff's favor, and the plaintiff's prima facie showing is sufficient notwithstanding the contrary presentation by the moving party." Wenz , 55 F.3d at 1505 (internal quotation marks omitted).

When considering whether personal jurisdiction is proper in a federal question case, federal courts must determine "(1) whether the applicable statute potentially confers jurisdiction by authorizing service of process on the defendant and (2) whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process." Peay v. BellSouth Med. Assistance Plan , 205 F.3d 1206, 1209 (10th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing Republic of Panama v. BCCI Holdings (Lux.) S.A. , 119 F.3d 935, 942 (11th Cir. 1997) ). Because "neither the federal Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. , nor the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq.

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Bluebook (online)
361 F. Supp. 3d 1153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quill-ink-books-ltd-v-abcd-graphics-design-inc-okwd-2019.