Clifton v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Filing 29

ORDER. Signed by Judge JEFFREY S. WHITE on 12/3/13. (jjoS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/3/2013)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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CARR CLIFTON,

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Plaintiff,

No. C 13-02923 JSW

v.
JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.,

ORDER

Defendant.
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Now before the Court is Defendant John Wiley & Sons, Inc.’s motion to dismiss six of

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the twelve registrations at issue in this matter. Defendant contends that four of the subject

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copyright registrations are invalid as a result of having been registered as Unpublished Single

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Work Registrations which improperly contain previously published works, and two of the

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subject copyright registrations are invalid as a result of having been registered as Published

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Single Work registrations which improperly contain works that were published prior to the

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stated date of publication.

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On November 14, 2013, this Court issued an order to show cause to Plaintiff to explicate

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the status of the six registrations and his correspondence with the Copyright Office. In

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response, Plaintiff submitted a brief in which he again concedes that the subject registrations

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were made in error. Plaintiff also states that he made errors in the allegations of the complaint

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regarding the registration numbers for the subject images. Lastly, Plaintiff submits a response

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from the Copyright Office to his query in which he admits his errors. The Copyright Office

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clearly indicates that the proper recourse is to correct the errors in registration through the filing

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of new registration applications for the previously published photographs.

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Because of the state of the record, the Court HEREBY ORDERS that Plaintiff file new

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registration applications for the registrations that were previously in error. After completion of

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that process, the Court ORDERS that Plaintiff thereafter file an amended complaint setting out

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the correct registration numbers for the photographs at issue in this litigation. In the interim,

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this matter is STAYED pending completion of the registration and amendment process. The

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pending motion to dismiss is RENDERED MOOT and the hearing set for December 6, 2013 is

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VACATED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Dated:

December 3, 2013
JEFFREY S. WHITE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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