Breakdown Services, Ltd. v. Now Casting, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO AMEND COUNTERCLAIM AND ANSWER; GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

[Defendant’s Motion to Amend Counterclaim filed on October 16, 2006; Plaintiffs Amended Motion for Summary Judgment filed on October 16,2006]

This matter is before the Court on Now Casting Inc.’s (“NCI”) motion for leave to amend its counterclaim and answer and on Breakdown Services, Ltd.’s (“BSL”) motion for summary judgment on the counterclaim or, in the alternative, for partial summary judgment on the counterclaim. After reviewing the papers submitted by the parties and hearing oral argument, the Court grants in part and denies in part NCI’s motion to amend the counterclaim, and grants BSL’s motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

This litigation involves the “theatrical breakdowns” market. A theatrical breakdown is comprised of short character role descriptions of available acting parts in an upcoming film or television production. The suppliers of breakdowns are casting companies hired by studios and production companies who cast film and television projects; the “middlemen” who publish and distribute the breakdowns are BSL and NCI (the parties in this action),…