Copyright Infringement Action Dismissed for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction after Judgment on the Merits

In a June 10, 2013 ruling, Judge Loretta A. Preska dismissed a copyright infringement action on the ground that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction after the plaintiff had already been awarded $100,000 for the defendants’ willful copyright infringement. The defendants moved to set aside the judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b), contending “that newly discovered evidence shows that Plaintiff has no direct ownership interest in the copyrights over which it has sued because those rights are owned by subsidiaries of the Plaintiff who were never joined to the action.” The plaintiff conceded that it did not directly own the copyrights at issue, but that its wholly-owned subsidiaries did, which, the plaintiff argued was sufficient. Noting that lack “of standing of the party bringing suit would result in a lack of jurisdiction of the Court to hear the matter and would require a dismissal of the action,” Judge Preska found that there “is support from decisions in this circuit for the holding that a parent company lacks standing to bring claims on behalf of its subsidiary,” and dismissed the action.