Swoboda v. Hero Decks

36 So. 3d 994, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 1303, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 464, 2010 WL 1240576
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 31, 2010
Docket2009-CA-1303
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 36 So. 3d 994 (Swoboda v. Hero Decks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Swoboda v. Hero Decks, 36 So. 3d 994, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 1303, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 464, 2010 WL 1240576 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

ROLAND L. BELSOME, Judge.

|, This Court is presented with the question of whether an internet merchandiser has established sufficient minimum contacts with Louisiana to be subjected to personal jurisdiction. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s finding that personal jurisdiction cannot be extended.

Parody Productions, LLC is a company that publishes novelty playing cards, which are sold over the internet. The product at issue for this appeal is referred to as the “Hero Decks” line which portrays well known players from a sports team’s history. One such deck includes fifty-two (52) past and present players from the New York Mets baseball team. The plaintiff in this suit, Ronald Swoboda, is included in the New York Mets Hero Deck.

Mr. Swoboda claims that he has never given Parody permission to use his image. He further contends that through his attorney he sent Parody a cease and desist letter. Parody refused to stop selling cards featuring Mr. Swoboda’s name and likeness. In response, Mr. Swoboda filed the instant lawsuit to enjoin Parody from the continued use of his name and likeness and for damages for violating his right to publicity, and, alternatively, damages for unjust enrichment. Subsequently, Parody filed exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction, prescription, no cause of faction [997]*997and improper venue. The trial court sustained the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction and this appeal followed.

This Court reviews the trial court’s dismissal of a claim for lack of personal jurisdiction de novo. See Walker v. Super 8 Motels, Inc., 2004-2206, p. 4 (La. 4 Cir. 12/7/05), 921 So.2d 988, 986. The party that seeks to invoke personal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing such jurisdiction exists. This burden is satisfied upon a prima facie showing that jurisdiction is appropriate, de Reyes v. Marine Management and Consulting, Ltd., 586 So.2d 103, 107 (La.1991).

Our authority to exercise jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant is granted under the Louisiana Long-arm Statute, LSA-R.S. 13:32o!.1 This authority is limited by the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S.C.A. Const. Amend. 14; LSA-R.S. 13:3201. The due process test was first established by the United States Supreme Court in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 157, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). There are two prongs of the due process test that must be satisfied before personal jurisdiction can be exercised. Id. First, the nonresident defendant must have “minimum contacts” with the forum state; and secondly, the exercise of personal jurisdiction in the forum state must not violate the basic notions of “fair play and substantial justice.” When applying the test the quality and nature of the activity must be considered. See id.

There are two distinct types of jurisdiction that a state may exercise over a non-resident defendant, “general” and “specific”. General jurisdiction applies when the defendant’s contacts with the state are unrelated to the lawsuit. General jurisdiction has not been asserted in the instant case. Specific jurisdiction is exercised when the cause of action is related to or arises out of the defendant’s contact with the state. Mr. Swoboda seeks to assert specific jurisdiction over Parody. More specifically, Mr. Swoboda argues that because Parody maintains an interac[998]*998tive website that has allowed Louisiana residents to purchase the cards, specific jurisdiction is warranted.

In order for a plaintiff to satisfy its burden of proving minimum contacts with the forum state, there must be a showing that the defendant purposefully-availed itself of the laws and protections of the forum state. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 475, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2183, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). Once the plaintiff demonstrates that minimum contacts with the forum state exists, “‘a presumption of reasonableness of jurisdiction arises’ and ‘the burden then shifts to the opposing party to prove the assertion of jurisdiction would be so unreasonable in light of traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice as to overcome the presumption of reasonableness created by the defendant’s minimum |4contacts with the forum.’ ” Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp., 98-1126, p. 6 (La.4/13/99), 731 So.2d 881, 886 (citing de Reyes v. Marine Management and Consulting, Ltd., 586 So.2d 103, 107 (La.1991)).

In general, questions of personal jurisdiction are factual determinations that must be weighed on a case by case basis. There are no clear-cut rules or a set jurisdictional formula that can be applied in determining whether personal jurisdiction conforms with the notion of “fair play and substantial justice.” See Burger King v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). To the contrary, “... any inquiry into fair play and substantial justice’ necessarily requires determinations in which few answers will be written in black and white. The greys are dominant and even among them the shades are innumerable.’ ” Id. at n. 29, 105 S.Ct. 2174 (citing Kulko v. California Superior Court, 436 U.S. 84, 98 S.Ct. 1690, 56 L.Ed.2d 132 (1978)). As relevant as that statement was at the time it was written, the world wide use of the internet has expanded the grey areas of personal jurisdiction.

The Zippo court employed a sliding scale approach to determine whether a website has minimum contacts with a forum state sufficient to invoke personal jurisdiction. Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F.Supp. 1119 at 1125. The sliding scale categorizes the websites activities as passive or interactive. Id. Passive websites disseminate information and do not provide the minimum contacts that warrant the exercise of personal jurisdiction. Id. (citing Bensusan Restaurant Corp. v. King, 937 F.Supp. 295 (S.S.N.Y.1996)). On the other side of the scale is the interactive website where business is clearly done through the website. Those websites typically have repeated contacts and transmissions and may also allow participants to enter into contracts. Under those circumstances | ^personal jurisdiction is warranted. Zippo, 952 F.Supp. 1119 at 1125. However, when a website falls somewhere in the midrange of the scale and information is exchanged between the host and user, but not on an ongoing basis, the court must look to the extent of the interactivity and commercial nature of the exchange of information to determine whether personal jurisdiction should be exercised. Id. (citing Maritz, Inc. v. Cybergold, Inc., 947 F.Supp. 1328 (E.D.Mo.1996)).

For instance, in Quality Design & Constr. v. Tuff Coat Mfg., Inc., 05-1712 (La.App. 1st Cir.7/12/06), 939 So.2d 429 and later in Crummey v. Morgan, 07-0087 (La.App. 1st Cir.8/807), 965 So.2d 497, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal utilized the Zippo sliding scale approach as a guide for determining personal jurisdiction. In both cases the cause of action arose from an allegedly defective product purchased by a Louisiana citizen.

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Swoboda v. Hero Decks
36 So. 3d 994 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
36 So. 3d 994, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 1303, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 464, 2010 WL 1240576, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swoboda-v-hero-decks-lactapp-2010.