Erickson Productions Inc v. Kraig R Kast
- Donna Ryu
- 4:13-cv-05472
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Erickson Productions Inc. v. Kraig Rudinger Kast, Judge Ryu denied Kast’s request to move trial proceedings from Oakland to San Francisco.
Kraig Rudinger Kast’s request to move the case from the Oakland Division to the San Francisco Division was denied; the case remained scheduled for proceedings in Oakland.
What happened
In Erickson Productions Inc. v. Kraig Rudinger Kast, the Ninth Circuit had sent the case back for a jury trial on willfulness and statutory damages related to Kast’s copyright infringement. Kast, representing himself, asked to move the trial from the Oakland courthouse to the San Francisco courthouse.
Kast said San Francisco was closer to his home and easier to reach by public transportation. He said he did not have a car and that traveling to Oakland would be time-consuming, expensive, and make it harder to prepare and attend court proceedings. The court found that Oakland had many nearby public transportation options and that the two courthouses were close to each other.
The court concluded that Kast had not shown that he or any other party or witness would face difficulty or hardship in Oakland, and it denied the transfer request. Judge Donna Ryu also scheduled a further case-management conference by video for July 5, 2023.
The detailed version
- Erickson Productions Inc v. Kraig R Kast · No. 4:13-cv-05472
- Donna Ryu
- May 19, 2023
Background
The Ninth Circuit had reversed this court’s February 12, 2021 judgment awarding Erickson Productions, Inc. and Jim Erickson $450,000 in statutory damages for Kast’s willful copyright infringement. It sent the case back for a jury trial on willfulness and statutory damages.
Kast, who was representing himself, filed a motion asking to withdraw his consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction and to reassign the case to the San Francisco courthouse. Chief Judge Richard Seeborg denied the request to withdraw consent and left the transfer issue for Judge Ryu. Judge Ryu treated Kast’s request to move the trial as a motion to transfer the case from the Oakland Division to the San Francisco Division of the Northern District of California.
Transfer standard
The court explained that a division transfer may be ordered when the current division is improper or when the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice support the transfer. These transfers are discretionary and are evaluated under the same general convenience-based analysis used for transfers between federal districts.
Kast argued that San Francisco was closer to his home and more accessible by public transportation. He stated that he had no access to a car and that appearing in Oakland would be a hardship because travel would be time-consuming and expensive and would make it more difficult to prepare his defense, attend pretrial meetings, and appear for trial. The opinion notes that Kast did not state where he lived.
Ruling
The court found that Oakland had numerous public transportation options near the courthouse and that the Oakland and San Francisco courthouses were close to each other. It concluded that Kast had not shown that he or any other party or witness would face difficulty or hardship by appearing in Oakland. Judge Donna Ryu therefore denied the motion to transfer. The court also scheduled a further case-management conference by video for July 5, 2023, and required a joint case-management statement by June 28, 2023.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.