Network v. Tidal
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06161
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Judge Swain dismissed Global Media Network v. Tidal without prejudice because William Scales filed without required court permission to proceed without fees.
William Scales and Global Media Network were affected by the dismissal; the court's earlier filing restriction applied to Scales and his companies.
What happened
In Global Media Network; William Scales v. Tidal, the court addressed a filing by William Scales and Global Media Network after an earlier order barred Scales from filing civil actions without first obtaining permission.
The earlier order applied to Scales filing in his own name or through his companies. Scales filed this action without paying the filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without fees, and he did not request the required permission.
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Scales did not comply with the earlier order. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Network v. Tidal · No. 1:25-cv-06161
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 22, 2025
Background
In a prior related proceeding, the court barred William Scales from filing any future civil action in the Southern District of New York without fees, either in his own name or in the names of his companies, unless he first obtained permission from the court. The court stated that the filing restriction applied to civil actions filed as of July 23, 2025.
According to this order, Scales filed the present action on July 24, 2025, in his own name and in the name of Global Media Network. He did not pay the filing fee or submit an application to proceed without fees. The court understood that Scales and Global Media Network were attempting to proceed without fees, but Scales had not sought the required permission.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because Scales failed to comply with the earlier filing restriction. 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 appeal without fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment dismissing the action for the reason stated in the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.