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Dismissal with prejudice is normal
From: |
Tim Smith |
Subject: |
Dismissal with prejudice is normal |
Date: |
Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:16:50 -0700 |
User-agent: |
MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.3b2 (PPC Mac OS X) |
Someone (I forget who) recently pointed out in one or both of these
newsgroups that when SFLC and Verizon settled their recent lawsuit, the
suit was dismissed with prejudice. What that means is that the matter
is completely over. Plaintiff cannot file that suit again. At first
glance, it would seem that plaintiff, upon settlement, would file for
dismissal WITHOUT prejudice, so that plaintiff could re-file the suit if
the settlement was breached, or if new copyright violations occurred.
I have checked with lawyers, and found out that dismissal WITH prejudice
is normal in these cases. When plaintiff sues for copyright
infringement, that suit is over *specific* acts of infringement. When
the parties settle, and the suit is dismissed with prejudice, no more
legal action can be taken against *those* *specific* *acts* of
infringement.
If defendant violates the settlement agreement over those specific acts
(e.g., if the settlement called for a payment to be made, and it is not
made), the remedy for plaintiff is a new suit over the breach of the
settlement. The settlement is a contract, and it is enforced in
contract law--even if the original copyright suit was a pure copyright
infringement suit, with nothing to do with with contracts.
If defendant commits *new* acts of infringement, those lead to new
causes of action, which plaintiff can sue for.
Net result: nothing useful can be deduced from the fact that after the
parties reach a settlement in a copyright infringement case, the lawsuit
is dismissed with prejudice.
--
--Tim Smith
- Dismissal with prejudice is normal,
Tim Smith <=
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Alexander Terekhov, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Linonut, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Alexander Terekhov, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Rick, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, rjack, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Rick, 2008/06/19
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, David Kastrup, 2008/06/20
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Alexander Terekhov, 2008/06/20
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, David Kastrup, 2008/06/20
- Re: Dismissal with prejudice is normal, Ezekiel, 2008/06/20