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Case No. 11-3333 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

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Case No. 11-3333 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 1 09/10/2013 1037816 88 CASE NO. 11-3333 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT Marvel Characters, Incorporated, Marvel Worldwide, Incorporated, MVL Rights, LLC, Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants - Appellees, Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment, Incorporated, Counter-Defendants - Appellees, v. Lisa R. Kirby, Neal L. Kirby, Susan N. Kirby, Barbara J. Kirby, Defendants-Counter-Claimants - Appellants. APPELLANTS’ PETITION FOR REHEARING OR REHEARING EN BANC Appeal From The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Civil Case No. 10-141 (CM) (KF), Hon. Colleen McMahon TOBEROFF & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Marc Toberoff [email protected] 22237 Pacific Coast Highway #348 Malibu, California 90265 Telephone: (310) 246-3333 Facsimile: (310) 246-3101 Attorneys for Defendants-Appellants, Lisa R. Kirby, Neal L. Kirby, Susan M. Kirby and Barbara J. Kirby Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 2 09/10/2013 1037816 88 TABLE OF CONTENTS RULE 35 STATEMENT ......................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................3 ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................5 I. THE RULE 19(b) ANALYSIS WAS BASED ON AN ERRONEOUS READING OF THE RECORD AND MISAPPLIED THE 19(b) FACTORS ALL OF WHICH WEIGH IN FAVOR OF DISMISSAL .......................................................5 A. The Opinion Misapplies The First Factor (Prejudice) .....................5 B. The Opinion Misapplies The Second Factor (Alleviation of Prejudice) .....................................................................................9 C. The Opinion Misapplies The Third Factor (Judgment Adequacy) ........................................................................................9 D. The Opinion Misreads The Record Re: Fourth Factor (Adequate Remedy) ....................................................................... 10 II. GIVEN THE UNDISPUTED FACTS FOUND BY THE COURT KIRBY’S CREATIONS COULD NOT BE WORK FOR HIRE ........... 12 A. The “Instance and Expense” Test Should Be Narrowly Construed ....................................................................................... 19 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 20 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE EXHIBIT 1: PANEL DECISION i Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 3 09/10/2013 1037816 88 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Federal Cases American Optical Co. v. Curtiss, 59 F.R.D. 644 (S.D.N.Y. 1973) ............................................................................7 Brattleboro Publ’g Co., v. Winmill Publ’g Corp., 369 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. 1966) ............................................................................... 14 Brattleboro Publishing Co., v. Winmill Publ’g Corp., 250 F. Supp. 215 (D. Vt. 1966) .......................................................................... 14 Cable Vision, Inc. v. KUTV, Inc., 335 F.2d 348 (9th Cir. 1964) ................................................................................6 CP Solutions PTE, Ltd. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 553 F.3d 156 (2d Cir. 2009) ......................................................................... 2, 8, 9 Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989) ............................................................................... 17, 19, 20 Cusano v. Klein, 196 F. Supp. 2d 1007 (C.D. Cal. 2002) ................................................................7 Dolman v. Agee, 157 F.3d 708 (9th Cir. 1998) ............................................................................. 18 Epoch Producing Corp. v. Killiam Shows, Inc., 522 F.2d 737 (2nd Cir. 1975) ............................................................................. 16 Estate of Hogarth v. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 342 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 2003) ................................................................... 13, 14, 18 Estate of Hogarth v. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4219 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 15, 2002) .................................... 14 Felix Cinema. v. Penth’se Int’l, Ltd., 99 F.R.D. 167 (S.D.N.Y. 1983) ......................................................................... 11 ii Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 4 09/10/2013 1037816 88 Fifty-Six Hope Rd. Music Ltd., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94500 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) ................................................ 14 First Fin. Mktg. Servs. Grp., Inc. v. Field Promot’ns, Inc., 286 F. Supp. 295 (S.D.N.Y. 1968) .......................................................................7 Fuji Photo Film Co. v. Deep Creek Design, 1998 U.S. Dist. Lexis 19525 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) .................................................. 12 Gary Friedrich Enterprises, LLC v. Marvel Characters, Inc., 716 F.3d 302 (2d Cir. 2013) ............................................................................... 18 Global Disc’t Travel Servs., LLC v. TWA, 960 F. Supp. 701 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) .................................................................... 11 Harper & Row Publ’rs, Inc. v. Nation Enterpr’s, 471 U.S. 539 (1984) ................................................................................. 2, 12, 13 Jaser v. N.Y. Prop’ty Ins. Underwrit’g Assoc., 815 F.2d 240 (2d Cir. 1987) ............................................................................. 8, 9 Key W. Hand Print Fabrics, Inc. v. Serbin, Inc., 244 F. Supp. 287 (S.D. Fla. 1965) ........................................................................7 Martha Graham School & Dance Foundation, Inc. v. Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., 380 F.3d 624 (2d Cir. 2004) ............................................................. 13, 15, 16, 18 Marvel Characters, Inc. v. Simon, 310 F.3d 280 (2d Cir. 2002) ................................................................. 2, 4, 18, 20 McCarthy v. Am. Int'l Group, 283 F.3d 121, 124 (2d Cir. 2002)....................................................................... 18 Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm v. Hughes Airc’ft Co., 483 F. Supp. 49 (S.D.N.Y. 1979).........................................................................6 Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Int’I Wire Grp. Inc., 2003 WL 21277114 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) ................................................................ 12 iii Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 5 09/10/2013 1037816 88 N.Y. Times v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483 (2001) ....................................................................................... 2, 20 Northern Arapaho Tribe v. Harnsberger, 697 F.3d 1272 (10th Cir. 2012)..............................................................................9 Philippines v. Pimentel, 553 U.S. 851 (2008) ................................................................................... 2, 9, 10 Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Dumas, 53 F.3d 549 (2d Cir. 1995) ............................................................... 14, 15, 16, 18 Plunket v. Estate of Conan Doyle, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2001 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2001) .......................................7 Prescription Plan Serv. Corp. v. Franco, 552 F.2d 493 (2d Cir 1977) .......................................................................... 2, 8, 9 Provident Tradesmens Bank & Trust Co. v. Patterson, 390 U.S. 102 (1968) ............................................................................... 2, 5, 6, 10 Pulitzer-Polster v. Pulitzer, 784 F.2d 1305 (5th Cir. 1986) ..............................................................................6 Ronson Corp. v. First Stanford Corp., 48 F.R.D. 374, 377 (D. Conn. 1970) ................................................................. 10 Scott v. Paramount Pict’s Corp., 449 F. Supp. 518 (D.D.C. 1978) ..........................................................................7 Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. v. Jerry Vogel Music Co., 161 F.2d 406 (2d Cir. 1946) ......................................................................... 15, 18 Siegel v. Time Warner Inc., 496 F. Supp. 2d 1111 (C.D. Cal. 2007) ............................................................. 16 Smith v. Kessner, 183 F.R.D. 373 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) ....................................................................... 11 iv Case: 11-3333 Document: 162 Page: 6 09/10/2013 1037816 88 Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207 (1990) ..................................................................................... 16, 20 Tullett Prebon PLC v. BGC Partners, Inc., 427 Fed. Appx. 236 (3d Cir. 2011) .................................................................. 6, 7 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Entertainment Distribution, 429 F.3d 869 (9th Cir. 2005) ................................................................. 14, 15, 16 U.S. ex rel. Hall v. Tribal Dev. Corp., 100 F.3d 476 (7th Cir. 1996) ................................................................................9 Vance v. Amer’n Soc. of Composers, etc., 271 F.2d 204 (8th Cir. 1959) ...............................................................................7 Whitney, Atwood, Norcross Assocs., Inc. v. Architects Collaborative ,Inc., 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225 (D. Mass. 1991) .......................................................7 Federal Statutes and Rules 17 U.S.C. § 26 ....................................................................................... 13, passim
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