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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 14, 2020

Chronicle Books, LLC v. Audible, Inc.

Judge
Valerie Caproni
Docket
1:19-cv-07913
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedureContract
In one sentence

Chronicle Books v. Audible: Judge Caproni dismissed the settled case with prejudice, without costs, and allowed possible reopening within 30 days.

Who this affects

Chronicle Books, LLC, Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC, Penguin Random House LLC, Scholastic Inc., Simon & Schuster, Inc., and Audible, Inc.; the case was closed, subject to the stated 30-day procedures for possible reopening or retention of authority to enforce the settlement.

What happened

In Chronicle Books, LLC v. Audible, Inc., the parties told the court they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.

The court canceled scheduled conferences and deadlines, dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs or attorneys’ fees, terminated open motions, and closed the case. The parties could ask to reopen it within 30 days if they showed good cause.

Judge Valerie Caproni also said the parties could ask the court to retain authority to enforce their settlement by submitting the agreement and a request within the same 30-day period.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Chronicle Books, LLC v. Audible, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-07913
Judge
Valerie Caproni
Date
Jan. 14, 2020

Background

On January 13, 2020, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims or the terms of the agreement.

Order

The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate all open motions and close the case.

The parties could apply to reopen the case within 30 days. Any such application had to show good cause for keeping the case open despite the settlement. The court stated that a request filed after 30 days or without a showing of good cause could be denied solely on that basis.

The court also explained that, if the parties wanted it to retain authority to enforce the settlement agreement, they had to submit the agreement and request an order expressly retaining that authority within the same 30-day period.

Ruling and Effect

This was a procedural order ending the case after the parties reported reaching a settlement; the court did not decide the underlying dispute. Judge Valerie Caproni entered the dismissal and related directives described above.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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