Judge Louis Stanton
Georgia citizen Conte allegedly worked as a record producer and songwriter in New York, and received royalty payments through Broadcast Music Inc., which does business in New York. After default judgment against Conte, the court adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that Ballard’s claims against Conte be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. The complaint’s factually unsupported allegations of Conte’s activities in New York did not satisfy CPLR 301′s “doing business” test. Further, because Ballard’s amended complaint inadequately alleged the claims against Conte arose from transaction of business in New York, it inadequately pleaded personal jurisdiction under CPLR §302. The court denied Ballard’s motion to file a second amended complaint. Its allegation that Conte regularly does or solicits business in New York and derived substantial revenue from services therefrom lacked support. Among other things, Conte’s passive receipt of royalty payments in New York cannot be said to be “some act by which [he] purposefully avail[ed himself] of the privilege of conducting activities within [New York] thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” Thus jurisdiction could not be predicated on CPLR §314.
