Facts

Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold filed an infringement action against Elizabeth Meriwether and 22 other defendants.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs alleged that they owned copyright ownership rights to the screenplay "Square One." The screenplay was about Counts' personal experiences when she moved into a bachelor pad with three men after her husband cheated on her. Plaintiffs alleged that they went into negotiations with certain individuals about developing the screenplay, but that the negotiations fizzled. Then, the screenplay allegedly came into the hands of Meriwether, who rewrote the screenplay into "Chicks and Dicks," which became the pilot episode of the television series "New Girl." New Girl was a success. Plaintiffs alleged that New Girl was poached off their Square One screenplay. Plaintiffs claimed they were not properly credited as the creators and writers of New Girl, originally known as Square One, nor have they received compensation for the use of their work.

Plaintiff asserted claims for copyright infringement and infringement-related claims.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Defendants also alleged that plaintiffs' copyright infringement claims should be dismissed because New Girl was not substantially similar to Square One.

Result

While the court declined to reach defendants' argument regarding the issue of substantial similarity, the court did grant defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' claims for direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement without prejudice. The court also dismissed plaintiffs' other claims for breach of contract, quantum meruit, and equitable relief for right of attribution without without prejudice, but granted plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint with respect to those claims.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Jan. 16, 2014.