NY Court of Appeals Rules on Internet-Related Jurisdiction

As reported in today's New York Law Journal, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled on a case in which a New York based publisher sought to hale out-of-state defendants into New York court based on the injuries suffered in New York as a result of the unauthorized down-load of copyrighted materials -- even though the suspect internet "down-loads" or other transaction activity took place as far away as Arizona and Oregon.

The case, Penguin Group (USA) Inc. v. American Buddha, No. 7, involved New York's long-arm statute and internet downloads of copyrighted material.

According to the Court, the fact that the internet is so pervasive distinguishes the case "from traditional commercial tort cases where courts have generally linked the injury to the place where sales or customers are lost."

In keeping with SDNY Local Counsel's commitment to monitor cases that may impact jurisdictional questions in state and federal Courts in New York, SDNY local counsel will keep you all updated on further developments ...

U.S. Supreme Court To Rule On Constitutional Limits (If Any) To Long-Arm Jurisdiction

SDNY Local Counsel blog-author, Luke McGrath, and Prof. Robert Pfeffer, a contributor to SDNY Local Counsel blog, gave a successful talk on March 24, 2011 on the upcoming decisions on cases pending in the United States Supreme Court on the extent courts throughout the United States may exercise jurisdiction over non-residents based upon certain types of contacts with a state. The talk was sponsored by the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association.

The two cases pending before the Court are:

J. McIntyre Machinery Ltd. v. Nicastro, U.S., No. 09-1343 (certiorari petition granted 9/28/10)

Goodyear Luxembourg Tires SA v. Brown, U.S., No. 10-76 (certiorari petition granted 9/28/10).

NYCLA and the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association are co-sponsoring the event.

See previous postings on this blog for a discussion of the cases.

During the talk we played excerpts from the oral argument before the Court. The audio of oral argument accentuated our discussion and great audience participation rounded out the event.

Thanks to everyone, including Tim Dougherty and Aleksandra Kaplun, for their support and participation in this successful event.