Judge Sandra Townes
Yamin is plaintiff Quilt With Me’s president. The Barrys do business as Quilt Passions Inc. Yamin created a brochure for their February 2012 joint retreat on Hawaii’s "Big Island." Quilt With Me copyright infringement after the Barrys distributed Yamin’s brochure for their 2013 "Quilting on the Beach" retreat on the Big Island. The Barrys also purportedly engaged in unfair competition by hosting an event in the same area Quilt With Me would be holding its own quilting retreat. District court affirmed a magistrate judge’s order transferring suit to the District of Hawaii. It determined the magistrate judge did not err in finding plaintiff had better means to litigate in Hawaii than did Quilt Passions to litigate in New York. Further, although Yamin created the copyrighted brochure in New York, all evidence and sources of proof related to the creation of the infringing document were in Hawaii. Given the unfair competition plaintiff complained of arose solely because of two events scheduled to take place in Hawaii, and is based in part on whether attendees would be confused by their proximity, the court found the magistrate judge’s conclusion that Hawaii was the location of relevant evidence and sources of proof was not clearly erroneous.
