ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. v. Coda Publising, Ltd.

Background

Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges copyright infringement involving musical compositions, master recordings, and films. The Defendants identified in the opinion are Coda Publishing, Ltd., Robert Kirk Carruthers, Clare Anne Gambold, Gwilym Michael Davies, and Vision Films, Inc. The opinion describes the complaint as referring to an attached list of allegedly infringed content but states that the complaint did not clearly identify the specific copyright registrations, registration numbers, alleged infringements, or films involved.

Defendants’ request

Defendants submitted a letter-motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e), which allows a court to require a clearer pleading when a filing is so vague or ambiguous that the responding party cannot reasonably prepare an answer. Defendants argued that they could not determine which Plaintiff owned which copyright, whether the copyrights were registered, what conduct allegedly infringed them, or whether some listed content belonged to entities not named as Plaintiffs. They also sought clarification relevant to personal jurisdiction and venue. Alternatively, they requested limited expedited discovery on those issues and a stay of their deadline to respond to the complaint.

Court’s action

The court did not decide the Rule 12(e) request in the text provided. Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered Plaintiffs to respond to Defendants’ January 31, 2020 letter by February 7, 2020. The court also stayed Defendants’ time to file a responsive pleading until the court resolves the pending Rule 12(e) motion. The order therefore addresses case-management steps and does not decide the alleged copyright infringement, ownership, registration, personal jurisdiction, or venue issues.

Disposition

Plaintiffs were ordered to respond by February 7, 2020. Defendants’ deadline to file a responsive pleading was stayed pending resolution of the Rule 12(e) motion. No grant or denial of that motion appears in the provided text.