Scales v. Paramount video
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02630
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Scales v. Paramount Video, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because plaintiffs neither sought a fee waiver nor paid filing fees.
William Scales and Vision Streams, whose complaint against Paramount Video was dismissed without prejudice for failing to submit the required fee-waiver application or pay the $405 filing fee.
What happened
In Scales v. Paramount Video, the court had ordered the plaintiffs to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required $405 filing fee within 30 days.
The plaintiffs did neither. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling.
Judge Swain also denied the plaintiffs permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Scales v. Paramount video · No. 1:25-cv-02630
- Laura Swain
- July 25, 2025
Background
William Scales and Vision Streams sued Paramount Video. In an earlier order dated June 17, 2025, the court directed the plaintiffs, within 30 days, either to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action in the court. The earlier order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
The court found that the plaintiffs had not submitted the application or paid the filing fee. It dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. Finally, the court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.