Batzel

AMENDED ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT TON CREMERS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT.

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Ton Cremers has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, alleging that Plaintiffs action in this Court is barred by the doctrine of res judicata as a result of the Western District of North Carolina’s dismissal of Plaintiffs earlier-filed identical action for failure to prosecute. In addition, pursuant to this Court’s order, Defendant Cremers has filed an Amended Special Motion to Strike, which responds to the Ninth Circuit’s order vacating and remanding Defendant Cremers’ anti-SLAPP motion to this Court. For the reasons discussed in this Order, Defendant Cremers’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. As such, the Court declines to reach the merits of Defendant Cremers’ anti-SLAPP motion.

II. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

MSN is an internet website that publishes newsletters concerning art and museum security issues. It is operated out of the Netherlands. Defendant Ton Cremers (“Defendant” or “Cremers”) is the creator and sole operator of MSN. Cremers both receives submissions from others and composes his own content for the MSN newsletter. Individuals…