OPINION AND ORDER Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D., proceeding pro se, is a scientist who claims he found evidence of possible extraterrestrial life on Venus and Mars. To expound his ideas here on Earth, Dr. Joseph wrote two articles — one about life on Venus, the other about life on Mars — and submitted them for publication in an academic journal called Astrophysics and Space Science (“ApSS”). ApSS published the article about Venus, and the piece received some traction in the scientific community. But before publishing the article on Martian life, ApSS told Dr. Joseph that it needed to vet his findings a bit more. Dr. Joseph did not like the sound of that. So he withdrew his submission of the Mars article and demanded that ApSS remove the Venus article from its website. Rather than remove the Venus article, and after conducting additional peer review, ApSS told Dr. Joseph that it would retract the article. Dr. Joseph responded by filing this suit and alleging copyright infringement, breach of contract, libel, and a host of other tort claims against various ApSS-affiliated entities and individuals. He demands damages of at least $1 billion and injunctive relief. Before the Court is certain Defendants’ motion to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the motion and dismisses this action as to all Defendants. I. Background A. Factual Background The following factual allegations are taken from the Second Amended Complaint, Dkt. 19 (the “Complaint” or “Compl.”), and any documents incorporated by reference. See Kleinman v. Elan Corp., 706 F.3d 145, 152 (2d Cir. 2013). The Court “accept[s] as true the factual allegations in the [C]omplaint and draw[s] all inferences in the plaintiff’s favor.” Biro v. Conde Nast, 807 F.3d 541, 544 (2d Cir. 2015).1 Dr. Joseph’s scientific career began in the 1970s, and over the past several decades he has published studies in a broad array of fields including “neuroscience, brain and child development, evolution, quantum physics, consciousness, genetics, and astrobiology.” Compl. 21. More recently, Dr. Joseph has focused his research on the cosmos and considers himself “one of the leading figures in the search for extraterrestrial life.” Id. 20; see id. 40 (describing himself as “one of the pioneers and leading authorities” on the subject of whether there is “life on other planets”). He claims that he has found evidence, albeit not conclusive proof, of life on two of Earth’s neighbors. Id. 20. With regard to his work on the Red Planet, he says he is “the pioneer who is the first to provide direct physical, visual evidence of what appears to be life, i.e. fungi, algae, lichens on the surface of Mars.” Id. The events at issue here began when Dr. Joseph submitted articles for publication in ApSS, a journal that specializes in astronomy, astrophysics, and other sciences related to outer space. See Id.
3-5. ApSS is owned by a company called Springer or Springer Nature, or one of its subsidiaries. See id.
