Con Kourtis v. James Cameron

Plaintiffs-Appellants Con and Filia Kourtis appeal from the district court’s orders granting summary judgment and attorney’s fees in favor of Mario Kassar, the producer of two films in the Termi nator series, which the Kourtises claim infringed on their copyright. After the Kourtises failed to post a costs bond, the district court dismissed the Kourtises’ claim against director James Cameron without prejudice while the litigation was ongoing against Kassar. Through counsel, the Kourtises opined for the first time at oral argument that this court lacks jurisdiction over their own appeal. In substance that appeal challenges several adverse orders culminating in summary judgment and an award of costs and fees. We affirm in all respects.

Generally, a dismissal without prejudice is not a final appealable order. See Wakefield v. Thompson, 111 F.3d 1160, 1162 (9th Cir.1999). But this court has applied a “‘practical rather than a technical construction’” of finality for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , treating as final a dismissal without prejudice that “(1) is a full adjudication of the issues, and (2) clearly evidences the judge’s intention that it be the court’s final act in the…