Ramani v. Warners Music Group Corp
- Laura Swain
- 1:26-cv-05981
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Valmiki Ramani v. Warners Music Group Corp, Judge Swain dismissed the case without prejudice because Ramani lacked required permission to file without paying fees.
Plaintiff Valmiki Ramani; the action against Warners Music Group Corp was dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
Valmiki Ramani v. Warners Music Group Corp involved Ramani’s new case filed without a lawyer, along with a request to proceed without paying filing fees. A prior court order barred him from filing new civil cases without paying fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission.
Ramani had not asked for that permission before filing this case. The court therefore found that he failed to follow the earlier order.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice. She also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal and directed the clerk to enter judgment dismissing the case.
The detailed version
- Ramani v. Warners Music Group Corp · No. 1:26-cv-05981
- Laura Swain
- July 17, 2026
Background
Valmiki Ramani filed this new civil action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court stated that, in a prior related proceeding, it had entered an order on November 21, 2024, barring Ramani from filing any new civil action in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained permission from the court. The opinion also states that an appeal from that earlier order was dismissed as frivolous.
Reason for Dismissal
Ramani had not asked the court for permission before filing this action. The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failing to comply with the November 21, 2024 order. Because the dismissal was based on compliance with that filing restriction, the opinion did not decide the underlying merits of Ramani’s claims against Warners Music Group Corp.
Other Orders
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. It directed the clerk to enter judgment dismissing the action for the reason stated in the order. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.