Dc Comics v. Pacific Pictures Corporation

This case arises from the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion, pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute, to strike certain of DC Comics’ state law claims. In Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir. 2003), we held that the collateral order doctrine permits a party to take an interlocutory appeal of an order denying such a motion. We must determine whether our decision in Batzel remains good law after the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, 558 U.S. 100 , 130 S.Ct. 599 , 175 L.Ed.2d 458 (2009). For the reasons stated below, we conclude that it does, and therefore that we have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal.

I. BACKGROUND

Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster jointly created the character Superman in the mid-1980s, and thereafter began seeking a publisher for comic strips featuring the new superhero. Eventually, Detective Comics, the predecessor of plaintiff DC Comics (collectively, “DC”) expressed interest, and, on March 1, 1938, Siegel and Shuster conveyed exclusive rights in Superman to DC in exchange for a flat fee; Siegel and Shuster also were paid for each page of Superman comics that they wrote and…