As discussed previously, the parties may conduct “discovery” of the case by to prepare for trial. In sum, the goal is to learn what are the other side’s strengths and weaknesses, which may prompt settlement before trial. In addition to the written discovery tools available, a party may, by oral questions, depose any person, including a party, [...]

You must file your copyright infringement claims in federal district court. Check this blog entry for more information.  Unfortunately, the costs to file suit are increasing. Specifically, the Judicial Conference initiated a new general administrative fee for civil cases filed in the district courts. The new $50 general administrative fee is in addition to the [...]

The time between filing the lawsuit and the trial is used to prepare for trial. To prepare a case for trial, the litigants may conduct “discovery.” Parties may obtain discovery regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense—including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any documents or [...]

  After the parties have their Rule 26 meeting as described in the prior post, they may start the discovery process. The purpose of discovery is to learn about the other party’s case. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) provides that “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s [...]

Soon after the defendant files its Answer to the Complaint, the attorneys for the parties must confer to discuss the case. During the conference, the attorneys must discuss a proposed discovery plan and the possibility of settling the case. They then must prepare a written report as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(3) (also [...]

One of the first questions photographers ask when deciding whether to file a copyright lawsuit is “what will it cost?”  While each case and circumstances differ, there are some general guidelines. As previously identified in my May 17, 2011 blog entry, the initial filing fee paid to the court for federal lawsuits is $350.  As [...]

After being served with the Complaint, the defendant is supposed to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint within a certain time, as discussed in my earlier blog entry.  But sometimes the defendant doesn’t timely respond, either because of a mistake or trying to avoid the matter.  So the case goes in a different direction than [...]

Instead of answering the Complaint, the defendant first may file a Motion to Dismiss the complaint.  In sum, a motion to dismiss is a formal way of saying, “Yea?  So what!”  In other words, the defendant is claiming in the motion that, even if all that the plaintiff says in the complaint is true, the [...]

Now that you’ve filed your copyright infringement lawsuit and have served the defendant (or the defendant has waived service), the defendant must now answer or otherwise respond to the complaint.  Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides the timing for the defendant’s response: (a) (1) Unless another time is specified by this [...]

[Note: Had a great time recently photographing wild horses with Mark Terrell of Wild Horses of Nevada Photography] After you file your copyright infringement lawsuit with a federal district court, you then need to “serve” (give) a copy of the complaint and a summons on the defendant.  You’ve probably have seen the process in movies where [...]