Eggleston v. Daniels et al

Filing 9

ORDER Notifying Plaintiff that 8 Request for Hearing is Denied as Untimely. Signed by District Judge Terrence G. Berg. (AChu)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
SOPHIA EGGLESTON
v.

Plaintiffs,

Case No. 15-11893

LEE DANIELS, et al.

HON. TERRENCE G. BERG
HON. ELIZABETH A. STAFFORD
Defendants.

/

ORDER NOTIFYING PLAINTIFF THAT
REQUEST FOR HEARING IS DENIED AS UNTIMELY (DKT. 8)
This is a copyright infringement case. Plaintiff Sophia Eggleston filed a
complaint against Defendants on May 27, 2015 alleging that her memoir The
Hidden Hand was the inspiration for the television series Empire, and in particular
for the character Cookie Lyon. (Dkt. 1, ¶¶ 73-80.) Before the Court is Plaintiff’s
June 10, 2015 request for a hearing. (Dkt. 8.) Because Defendants have not yet been
served with the summons and complaint, Plaintiff’s request will be DENIED as
untimely.
Plaintiff requests “to see [the] Judge” as soon as possible because she has felt
threatened by various individuals since filing her lawsuit. (Id. at 1-2.) However,
Plaintiff only just filed her complaint on May 27, 2015. (Dkt. 1.) Defendants in this
case have not yet been served with the summons and complaint, and have therefore
not been notified that they are being sued nor have they had sufficient opportunity

to respond.1 See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 4, 12. It would therefore be inappropriate
at this time for the Court to convene a hearing in this case. As soon as appropriate,
the Court will hear from the parties. Plaintiff’s request for hearing is thus DENIED
as untimely.
SO ORDERED.
s/Terrence G. Berg
TERRENCE G. BERG
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: June 15, 2015
Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that this Order was electronically submitted on June 15, 2015, using the
CM/ECF system, which will send notification to each party.
By: s/A. Chubb
Case Manager

Defendants must be served within 120 days after the complaint is filed or “the court—on motion or
on its own after notice to the plaintiff—must dismiss the action without prejudice against that
defendant or order that service be made within a specified time.” Fed. R. Civ P. 4(m). Once properly
served, Defendants have an additional 21 days to respond to the complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a).
Plaintiff is also advised, however, that should she believe she is being threatened in any way by any
person or party, her proper course of action is to contact the police as soon as possible, rather than to
seek a court hearing.
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