Minden Pictures, Inc. v. John Wiley & Sons
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Chen, J.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
I, INTRODUCTION
In this action, Plaintiff Minden Pictures, Inc., a stock photography agency, brings *1120 suit against Defendant John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (‘Wiley”), an educational publisher, alleging copyright infringement for exceeding usage restrictions in photograph licensing agreements. Before the Court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. The sole issue raised by these motions is whether Minden has standing under the Copyright Act to assert the claims raised in this case. The Court previously dismissed Minden’s claims to the extent it relied upon certain copyright assignments to establish standing. However, the various photographers entered into agency agreements with Minden, and the Court ordered the parties to conduct discovery and file crossmotions for summary judgment as to whether these agency agreements convey standing on Minden. For the following reasons, the Court concludes that Minden does not have standing to assert claims for copyright infringement under the Copyright Act and accordingly GRANTS Wiley’s motion for summary judgment.