Lockman Foundation v. Evangelical Alliance Mission Evangelical Alliance Mission of Japan Kenneth G. McVety

This case involves a dispute over the translation of a version of the Bible into several Asian languages, particularly Japanese. The Lockman Foundation (“Lock-man”) sued The Evangelical Alliance Mission (“TEAM”), TEAM’S alleged alter ego in Japan, called TEAM/Domei, and McVety, a TEAM/Domei representative in Japan, in federal district court in California, alleging various copyright and noncopy-right counts, including a RICO violation, arising under United States, Japanese and California law. The district court dismissed the case on the ground of forum non conveniens. Lockman challenges the dismissal of its noncopyright claims and contends the district court erred in not allowing it to amend its complaint to drop the copyright counts. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that Japan is the more convenient forum for these claims and because granting leave to amend would have been futile, we affirm.

I

Lockman owned an English translation of the Bible and sought to have its version translated further into several Asian languages. It established a relationship with TEAM to organize and accomplish the translating effort. Lockman and TEAM maintained a…