Fraserside IP L.L.C. v. Letyagin
| Citation | 885 F.Supp.2d 906 |
| Decision Date | 07 August 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. C11–3041–MWB.,C11–3041–MWB. |
| Parties | FRASERSIDE IP L.L.C., an Iowa Limited Liability Company, Plaintiff, v. Sergej LETYAGIN, d/b/a SunPorno.com and www. Sun Porno. com and John Does 1–100 and John Doe Companies 1–100, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Chad Lorin Belville, Attorney at Law, Phoenix, AZ, for Plaintiff.
Constance M. Alt, Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, Cedar Rapids, IA, Evan Marc Fray–Witzer, Boston, MA, Valentin David Gurvits, Boston Law Group PC, Newton Centre, MA, for Defendants.
Nearly 75 years ago, H.G. Wells came close to predicting the advent of the Internet in his collection of essays, World Brain:
There is no practical obstacle whatever now to the creation of an efficient index to all human knowledge, ideas and achievements, to the creation, that is, of a complete planetary memory for all mankind. And not simply an index; the direct reproduction of the thing itself can be summoned to any properly prepared spot. A microfilm, coloured where necessary, occupying an inch or so of space and weighing little more than a letter, can be duplicated from the records and sent anywhere, and thrown enlarged upon the screen so that the student may study it in every detail.
H.G. Wells, World Brain 60 (Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1938). Wells, however, did not foresee the legal challenges that the advent of the internet would present for courts considering personal jurisdiction and venue. Such a challenge is before me. Plaintiff, a producer of adult motion pictures, alleges that defendants, an individual residing in Gibraltar and a corporation headquartered in the Republic of Seychelles, have willfully violated plaintiff's copyright and trademarks by offering plaintiff's motion pictures on an internet website they operate. However, the merits of plaintiff's claims are not presently before me. Rather, I must resolve, inter alia, whether plaintiff has made a prima facie showing that defendants have sufficient minimum contacts with Iowa, or, alternatively, the United States, to satisfy due process and permit the exercise of personal jurisdiction over them.
On August 17, 2011, plaintiff Fraserside IP L.L.C. (“Fraserside”) filed a complaint against Sergej Letyagin, doing business as SunPorno.com (“SunPorno”), John Does, and John Doe Companies, alleging the following causes of action: copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501 et seq.; contributory copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501 et seq.; vicarious copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501 et seq.; inducing copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501 et seq.; false designation of origin, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); and, dilution of trademark, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c).
On February 7, 2012, Letyagin and SunPorno filed a Motion to Dismiss. In their motion, Letyagin and SunPorno contend that they are not subject to personal jurisdiction in Iowa and the Complaint must be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil procedure 12(b)(2). On February 27, 2012, Fraserside filed a resistance to Letyagin and SunPorno's Motion to Dismiss. Fraserside argues that SunPorno's internet activities establish a sufficient basis for specific personal jurisdiction under Iowa's long-arm statute. Fraserside, alternatively, argues that, even if it did not make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction under Iowa's long-arm statute, personal jurisdiction exists under the federal long-arm statute found in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2). Fraserside also alternatively requests that I delay ruling on defendants' motion and permit it limited jurisdictional discovery. After obtaining an extension of time, Letyagin and SunPorno filed their reply brief on March 16, 2012.
On a motion to dismiss, I must assume all facts alleged in the Complaint are true, and must liberally construe those allegations. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45–46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The following factual background is drawn from the Complaint, documents attached to the Complaint, and public records.1
Plaintiff Fraserside is a subsidiary of Private Media Group, Inc., a Nevada Corporation (“Private Media”). Private Media, Fraserside, and sibling companies, collectively, are commercially known as “Private.” Private Media is a producer of adult motion pictures. Its adult films are distributed on a wide range of platforms, including mobile handsets in 45 countries, digital television in 24 countries, broadband internet, a South American cable channel, DVDs, and on demand and subscription based services on the Internet. Private has produced over 1,000 adult films and holds over 75 United States copyrights for its works.
Defendant Sergej Letyagin is the owner of defendant SunPorno. He resides in Gibraltar. SunPorno competes with Fraserside Holdings in the distribution and sale of adult audio-visual works through the Internet. SunPorno operates the website www. Sun Porno. com. The website allows users the option of viewing adult films, downloading adult films, or viewing films in Hi–Definition.2 One of Fraserside's copyrighted works has been viewed over 55,000 times on SunPorno's website.
Defendants have supplied affidavits in support of their request to dismiss the Complaint on the ground of lack of personal jurisdiction, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2). I have extracted the following facts, all uncontroverted, from those affidavits which relate to defendants' contacts with the State of Iowa.
Letyagin is a full-time resident of Europe. He has never resided in, or visited, Iowa. He has never resided in, or visited, the United States. He does not maintain any servers in Iowa, does not advertise there, does not own any real estate in Iowa, and has never paid taxes in Iowa. He is the Director of Technology for Ideal Consult, Ltd. (“Ideal”). Ideal is headquartered in the Republic of Seychelles. Letyagin alleges that Ideal owns and operates the SunPorno website, and that he has never owned or run that website.3
Ideal has no employees in Iowa, and has never maintained a server in Iowa. Ideal has never owned any real state in Iowa and has never paid taxes in Iowa. Ideal has never had a bank account in Iowa. Neither Ideal nor SunPorno are registered to do business in Iowa.
SunPorno does not offer any premium memberships. SunPorno has previously entered into affiliate agreements with other companies that provide adult video memberships to enter into affiliate agreements with them. None of these other companies were located in Iowa. Under these affiliate agreements, the affiliated company created what is known as a “white...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Liberty Media Holdings, LLC v. Letyagin
...Rule 4(k)(2). A court in the Northern District of Iowa recently concluded the same thing in a similar case. In Fraserside IP L.L.C. v. Letyagin, 885 F.Supp.2d 906 (N.D.Iowa 2012), the plaintiff Fraserside—an Iowa subsidiary of a Nevada pornography company—sued Letyagin for copyright infring......
-
Hakkasan LV, LLC v. Adamczyk
...Enterps. v. Dominionenterprisesco.com, 2010 WL 395951, at *2 (E.D. Va. Feb. 2, 2010) (same); see also Fraserside IP LLC v. Letyagin, 885 F. Supp. 2d 906, 921 & n.9 (N.D. Iowa 2012) (refusing to find a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction based on evidentiary concerns regarding WHOIS ...
-
Child Support Enforcement Agency v. MSH, CAAP-11-0001037
...Information obtained from private websites do not qualify as self-authenticating under HRE Rule 902. Fraserside IP L.L.C. v. Letyagin, 885 F.Supp.2d 906, 921 n.9 (N.D. Iowa 2012); Martinez v. America's Wholesale Lender, 446 Fed. App'x. 940, 944 (9th Cir. 2012). In this case, the parties dis......
-
Child Support Enforcement Agency v. MSH
...Information obtained from private websites do not qualify as self-authenticating under HRE Rule 902. Fraserside IP L.L.C. v. Letyagin, 885 F.Supp.2d 906, 921 n.9 (N.D. Iowa 2012); Martinez v. America's Wholesale Lender, 446 Fed. App'x. 940, 944 (9th Cir. 2012). In this case, the parties dis......