Smith v. Jackson

84 F.3d 1213
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 5, 1996
DocketNos. 94-55355, 94-55616 and 94-55617
StatusPublished
Cited by244 cases

This text of 84 F.3d 1213 (Smith v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Jackson, 84 F.3d 1213 (9th Cir. 1996).

Opinion

MICHAEL DALY HAWKINS, Circuit Judge:

Appeliants/Cross-Appellees Robert Smith and Reynaud Jones brought copyright infringement and RICO actions against appel-lees/cross-appellants, including Michael Jackson, Rod Temperton, and Lionel Richie. Appellants argue that (1) the district court erred in dismissing appellants’ RICO claims pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), (2) the court erred in granting partial summary judgment in appellees’ favor, and (3) the court’s jury instructions improperly permitted the jury to find for appellees without considering appellees’ access to appellants’ copyrighted works. Appellees cross-appealed the court’s decision to deny attorney’s fees. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Appellants’ copyright claims were based on appellees’ alleged infringement of six of appellants’ songs. Appellants had registered copyrights on each song. Appellants did not allege infringement of the lyrics or copying of large parts of the music, but rather alleged that appellees misappropriated musical “motives” from each of appellants’ works.1 More specifically, appellants alleged that:

* Jackson’s and Richie’s “We Are The World” infringed on one motive from appellants’ “If There Be You”
* Jackson’s and Richie’s “We Are The World” infringed on two motives from appellants’ “What Will Become of the Children”
* Jackson’s “The Girl is Mine” infringed on one motive from appellants’ “Don’t Let the Sunshine Catch You Crying”
* Jackson’s “The Girl is Mine” infringed on two motives from appellants’ “Happy Go Lucky Girl”
* Temperton’s “Thriller” infringed on four motives from appellants’ “Run on Man-child”
* Jackson’s “Another Part of Me” infringed on two motives from appellants’ “Send Your Love”

In addition to the copyright infringement claims, appellants alleged that appellees’ dissemination and marketing of the songs were mail and wire fraud predicate acts under RICO. The district court dismissed appellants’ RICO counts for failure to state a claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The court concluded that although appellants claimed to allege mail and wire fraud as predicate acts, their RICO claims were actually based on copyright infringement. Because copyright infringement is not a RICO predicate act under 18 U.S.C. § 1961, the court dismissed appellants’ RICO claims.

The district court then granted appellees’ motion for summary judgment as to all but three of appellants’ infringement claims.2 The court concluded that as to all but the three surviving allegations of infringement, appellants’ experts had faded to rebut appellees’ expert testimony that appellants’ allegedly infringed motives were unprotected “scenes a faire.”3

The three surviving claims went to trial. The jury returned a special verdict for appel-lees on each of the three infringement claims. The jury concluded that none of appellants’ [1217]*1217works would be found to be substantially similar to appellees’ works by the ordinary lay listener.

The district court denied appellees’ post-trial motion for attorney’s fees. The district court determined that appellants had not brought their claims in bad faith, that the claims were not frivolous, and that the claims had legal and factual support, and thus concluded that appellees’ were not entitled to attorney’s fees under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 505.

Appellants timely appealed the dismissal of the RICO counts, the partial summary judgment, and alleged trial errors,4 and Temper-ton and the Jackson appellees timely cross-appealed the denial of attorney’s fees.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Did The District Court Err In Dismissing Appellants’ RICO Causes Of Action For Failure To State A Claim?

Standard of Review

A dismissal for failure to state a claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) is a question of law reviewed de novo. Stone v. Travelers Corp., 58 F.3d 434, 436-37 (9th Cir.1995). All allegations of material fact are taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Everest & Jennings v. American Motorists Ins. Co., 23 F.3d 226, 228 (9th Cir.1994). A complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts that would entitle her to relief. Id.

Analysis

Liability under RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), requires (1) the conduct (2) of an enterprise (3) through a pattern (4) of racketeering activity. Sun Savings & Loan Assoc. v. Dierdorff, 825 F.2d 187, 191 (9th Cir.1987). “Racketeering activity” is any act indictable under several provisions of U.S.C. Title 18, including the predicate acts alleged in this case, mail fraud and wire fraud. 18 U.S.C. § 1961; see generally Sun Savings & Loan Assoc., 825 F.2d at 191.

The district court concluded that appellants’ RICO claims were entirely based on copyright infringement, which is not a RICO predicate act under 18 U.S.C. § 1961, and dismissed them pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Appellants argue that their claims were properly based on the predicate acts of mail and wire fraud. We affirm.

The district court did not err in concluding that appellants’ RICO claims were reformulated copyright infringement claims. Appellants allege in their RICO counts the same activity alleged in their infringement claims: the unauthorized use and dissemination of appellants’ copyrighted works. Indeed, without the alleged infringement of copyright, none of appellees’ activity in disseminating their songs could be “fraudulent” and none of appellants’ RICO claims could survive. Because appellants’ RICO counts do no more than allege copyright infringement under the label of mail and wire fraud, and copyright infringement is not a predicate act under RICO, the district court properly concluded that appellants failed to state a claim.

Appellants’ arguments are not persuasive.

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84 F.3d 1213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-jackson-ca9-1996.