Round to Fit, LLC v. Reimer

380 F. Supp. 3d 830
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 29, 2019
DocketNo. 1:18-cv-00272-JRS-DML
StatusPublished

This text of 380 F. Supp. 3d 830 (Round to Fit, LLC v. Reimer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Round to Fit, LLC v. Reimer, 380 F. Supp. 3d 830 (S.D. Ind. 2019).

Opinion

JAMES R. SWEENEY II, JUDGE

Under the Copyright Act, an employer is deemed to be the initial author of a "work made for hire," and thereby the initial owner of the copyright in the work. In order for this Court to render a declaration of authorship or ownership, an independent basis for federal jurisdiction beyond the Declaratory Judgment Act must exist. The Court now considers whether, when authorship and ownership in a copyright under the work made for hire doctrine by virtue of an employee acting within the scope of the employee's employment is asserted, the determination of authorship *832arises under the Copyright Act; for the reasons stated herein, it does. Thus, this Court has original subject matter jurisdiction over the Declaratory Judgment claim, and supplemental jurisdiction over the Plaintiff's state law claims and Defendant's motion must be denied.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Jonathan Reimer's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). (ECF No. 33.) Plaintiff Round to Fit, LLC ("R2Fit") brought this action under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. (the "Copyright Act"), the Indiana Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Ind. Code § 24-2-3-1 et seq. , the Indiana Crime Victims Recovery Act, Ind. Code § 34-24-3-1, and Indiana common law. R2Fit seeks a declaratory judgment from the Court confirming R2Fit's authorship and ownership of the copyright at issue, as well as all other appropriate relief for R2Fit's state law claims. This Court has jurisdiction over R2Fit's federal-law claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338 and supplemental jurisdiction over its state-law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. After carefully reviewing the pleadings, motion, response, and reply, the Court concludes that Reimer's motion should be DENIED for the following reasons.

I. Legal Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) permits a party to move for judgment after the parties have filed a complaint and an answer. A challenge to subject matter jurisdiction falls within the ambit of Rule 12(b)(1). Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(c) motions are analyzed under the same standard as a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). Silha v. ACT, Inc. , 807 F.3d 169, 173-74 (7th Cir. 2015). Pisciotta v. Old Nat'l Bancorp. , 499 F.3d 629, 633 (7th Cir. 2007) ; Frey v. Bank One , 91 F.3d 45, 46 (7th Cir. 1996). Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must allege facts that are "enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Although "detailed factual allegations" are not required, mere "labels," "conclusions," or "formulaic recitation[s] of the elements of a cause of action" are insufficient. Id. In other words, the complaint must include "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Hecker v. Deere & Co. , 556 F.3d 575, 580 (7th Cir. 2009) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). To be facially plausible, the complaint must allow "the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Twombly , 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).

Like a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court will grant a Rule 12(c) motion only if "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff cannot prove any facts that would support his claim for relief." N. Ind. Gun & Outdoor Shows, Inc. v. City of S. Bend , 163 F.3d 449, 452 (7th Cir. 1998) (quoting Craigs, Inc. v. Gen. Elec. Capital Corp. , 12 F.3d 686, 688 (7th Cir. 1993) ). The factual allegations in the complaint are viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party; however, the court is "not obliged to ignore any facts set forth in the complaint that undermine the plaintiff's claim or to assign any weight to unsupported conclusions of law." Id.

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380 F. Supp. 3d 830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/round-to-fit-llc-v-reimer-insd-2019.