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Pastime LLC v. Schreiber

Court Cannot Nullify Copyright Registration; Federal Question Jurisdiction Alleged

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OPINION AND ORDER

*1 At the center of this case is a play, titled “Once Upon a Pastime,” which its creators hope to mount as a successful stage production. But before that can happen, the characters in this case have to resolve their own drama: Who owns the rights to the play? Defendant Lee Schreiber holds a registration from the U.S. Copyright Office listing him as the play’s sole author, but Plaintiffs Pastime LLC, Dennis M. Mnogue (personally known as Terry Cashman), PKM Music, and Metrostar Music (collectively, “Pastime”) claim that Schreiber’s employment contract divested him of any copyright in the work. Instead, Pastime claims that the play’s owners transferred their copyrights to Pastime, making Pastime the lawful owner of “Once Upon a Pastime.” In this action, Pastime asks this Court to declare it the play’s rightful owner and to nullify Schreiber’s registration. Schreiber has moved to dismiss Pastime’s Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the reasons that follow, Schreiber’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.I. BackgroundThe following facts are taken from the Complaint and attached exhibits, and are presumed true for purposes of deciding Schreiber’s motion to dismiss.

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