Team Angry Filmworks, Inc. v. Geer

171 F. Supp. 3d 437, 2016 WL 1086370, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36286
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 2016
DocketCiv. No. 15-1381
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 171 F. Supp. 3d 437 (Team Angry Filmworks, Inc. v. Geer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Team Angry Filmworks, Inc. v. Geer, 171 F. Supp. 3d 437, 2016 WL 1086370, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36286 (W.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

CONTI, Chief District Judge

I. Introduction

California film-production company Team Angry Filmworks, Inc. (“plaintiff’) calls upon the court to declare that Philip Francis Nowlan’s 1928 science-fiction novella Armageddon-2419 A.D. (‘Armageddon’’) and character “Buck Rogers” entered the public domain, pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act (the “DJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a). As trustee of the Dille Family Trust (the “Trust”), defendant Louise A. Geer (“defendant”) filed a motion:

• to dismiss this action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) for failure to present a justiciable controversy under the DJA and Article III of the Constitution; or
• in the alternative, to join necessary parties under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(7) and 19. (ECF No. 55.)

Having been fully briefed, defendant’s motion is ripe for disposition. For the reasons explained in this opinion, plaintiff fails to allege facts sufficient to establish a jus-ticiable controversy under the DJA and Article III. Accordingly, the court will grant defendant’s Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint without prejudice. The court will deny defendant’s request to join necessary parties under Rules 12(b)(7) and 19 and plaintiffs evi-dentiary objections to defendant’s exhibits because they are moot. (ECF No. 59.)

[440]*440II. Procedural History

On August 8, 2015, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. (ECF No. 1.) On September 15, 2015, defendant filed a motion in the California district court to dismiss the action for want of personal jurisdiction and Article III standing. (ECF No. 15.) On October 23, 2015, the California district court found venue proper in the Western District of Pennsylvania under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1) and transferred the action to this court under'28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a). (ECF No. 27 at 2.)

On November 6, 2015, defendant renewed her Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint in this court. (ECF Nos. 43, 44.) On November 25, 2015, plaintiff filed a brief in opposition to defendant’s renewed Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 47.)

On January 7, 2016, the court held a hearing on defendant’s renewed Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. (Text Minute Entry, 1/7/2016.) Because plaintiffs complaint failed to allege a justiciable controversy under the DJA and Article III, the court granted defendant’s Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss without prejudice. (ECF No. 53.)

On January 29, 2016, plaintiff filed an amended complaint. (ECF No. 54.) On February 19, 2016, defendant filed this motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint, with accompanying exhibits, under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(7). (ECF Nos. 55, 56, 57.) On March 11, 2016, plaintiff filed a response in opposition to defendant’s motion and objections to defendant’s exhibits. (ECF Nos. 58, 59.)

III. Standard of Review

In this case, the standard of review determines the facts the court must consider in ruling on defendant’s Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. For this reason, the court addresses the standard of review before discussing this case’s factual background.

A. Rule 12(b)(1) standard

A motion to dismiss challenging the “actual controversy” requirement under the DJA and Article III is properly brought under Rule 12(b)(1) because ‘“standing is a jurisdictional matter.’” Constitution Party of Pa. v. Aichele, 757 F.3d 347, 357 (3d Cir.2014) (quoting Ballentine v. United States, 486 F.3d 806, 810 (3d Cir.2007)). In deciding a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss, the court must first determine whether the motion presents a “ ‘facial’ attack” or a “ ‘factual’ attack” on the claim in issue because that distinction determines “how the pleading must be reviewed.” Id. at 357-58 (citing In re Schering Plough Corp. Intron, 678 F.3d 235, 243 (3d Cir.2012)); Mortensen v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 549 F.2d 884, 891 (3d Cir.1977).

A facial attack “is an argument that considers a claim on its face and asserts that it is insufficient to invoke the [subject-matter] jurisdiction of the court” because “some ... jurisdictional defect,” e.g., failure to present a justiciable controversy, “is present.” Constitution Party of Pa., 757 F.3d at 358. In reviewing a facial attack, the court “ ‘must only consider the allegations of the complaint and documents referenced therein and attached thereto, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.’ ” Id. (quoting In re Schering Plough, 678 F.3d at 243). In other words, a facial attack calls for the court to apply the “same standard of review it would use in considering a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), i.e., construing the alleged facts in favor of the nonmoving party.” Id. If the defendant challenges jurisdiction in its Rule 12(b)(1) motion before answering the complaint or “otherwise presenting] competing facts,” the Rule 12(b)(1) motion is, [441]*441“by definition, a facial attack.” Id. (citing Mortensen, 549 F.2d at 892 n. 17 (“A factual jurisdictional proceeding cannot occur until [the] plaintiffs allegations have been controverted.”)); Askew v. Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 684 F.3d 413, 417 (3d Cir.2012) (“As the defendant had not answered [the complaint] and the parties had not engaged in discovery, the [Rule 12(b)(1)] motion to dismiss was facial.”).

A factual attack, on the other hand, is “an argument that there is no jurisdiction because the facts of the case — and [in a factual attack] the [court] may look beyond the pleadings to ascertain the facts — do not support the asserted jurisdiction.” Constitution Party of Pa., 757 F.3d at 358. “So, for example, while diversity of citizenship might have been adequately pleaded by the plaintiff, the defendant can submit proof that, in fact, diversity is lacking.” Id. (citing Mortensen, 549 F.2d at 891 (“[T]he trial court is free to weigh the evidence^]... and the existence of disputed material facts will not preclude the trial court from evaluating for itself the merits of jurisdictional claims.”)) (emphasis added). In a factual attack, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof that jurisdiction in fact exists, and the court need not presume the truth of the plaintiffs allegations. Mortensen, 549 F.2d at 891.

“ ‘In sum, a facial attack ‘contests the sufficiency of the pleadings,’ [In re Schering

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171 F. Supp. 3d 437, 2016 WL 1086370, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/team-angry-filmworks-inc-v-geer-pawd-2016.