| California Anti-SLAPP Project |
| Federal Courts |
| For legal arguments that the anti-SLAPP law also applies to federal-question cases in federal court, see the memorandum of points and authorities in the case of Canadian-American Oil Co. v. Delgado. |
NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
Smith, a contractor hired by Batzel at her home, saw numerous "older European" paintings on Batzel's walls and thought he overheard her say she was the granddaughter of one of Hitler's deputies. He sent an e-mail to an agency involved in tracking down artwork stolen by the Nazis, and the agency posted the e-mail on its website. Batzel sued Smith and the director of the agency, Ton Cremers, for defamation. Cremers filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike the complaint, arguing that the plaintiff was not likely to prevail on her complaint, as required by the anti-SLAPP statute, because he was exempt from liability for reposting Smith's e-mail on the Internet under 47 U.S.C. 230 -- a part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that sets limitations on liability under state law for postings on the Internet. The motion was denied by the district court on the grounds that section 230 did not apply to Cremers' in this case. The 9th Circuit panel holds, as a threshold matter, that denial of an anti-SLAPP motion is an immediately appealable "final decision" in federal court under 28 U.S.C. 1291. "Because California law recognizes the protection of the anti-SLAPP statute as a substantive immunity from suit, this court ... will do so as well." (Cf. United States, ex rel. Newsham et al. v. Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. below.) The court disagrees with the district court's interpretation of section 230, vacates the district court's denial of the special motion to strike, and remands for further hearings on questions of fact in light of its interpretation of section 230.
(Case summary in preparation.)
After Kremer became dissatisfied with hair restoration provided by Bosley, he started a website to criticize the service. Because the website address was "BosleyMedical.com," Bosley sued Kremer for trademark infringement and cybersquatting under the federal Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Kremer filed an anti-SLAPP motion against Bosley's state-law trademark claims. The district court granted the motion but the appellate court reverses. "An infringement lawsuit by a trademark owner over a defendant's unauthorized use of the mark as his domain name does not necessarily impair the defendant's free speech rights." The court concludes that while a summary judgment motion might have been appropriate, an anti-SLAPP motion was not.
(Case summary in preparation.)
In this lengthy and complex opinion (including a partial dissent) the court reverses in part and affirms in part the judgment of the district court (see district court decision below). The district court had ruled that certain expert testimony on behalf of Metabolife could not be admitted; as a result, Metabolife was unable to demonstrate a probability of prevailing on its claims for defamation and trade libel, and therefore the court granted the anti-SLAPP motions of all defendants. The appellate court reverses the district court's decision to exclude the expert testimony because it found the reasons cited by the district court constitute abuse of discretion. In the court's view, admitting the expert evidence would not enhance the ability of Metabolife to prevail on its claims against one defendant, a professor of medicine, and therefore the court affirms the decision to grant that defendant's anti-SLAPP motion. However, as to the other defendants -- a TV reporter and her broadcaster -- the court reverses the decision to grant their anti-SLAPP motions on the grounds that their edited broadcast of the professor's statements about Metabolife failed to qualify as "protected speech" under the First Amendment because they deleted crucial qualifiers from the original statement. In its opinion the court rules that the discovery-limiting provision of the anti-SLAPP statute (§ 425.16 subdiv. g) conflicts with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f), and therefore cannot be applied in federal court. The dissent points out that, despite the general prohibition, the state statute nevertheless allows a judge to permit discovery "for good cause" and therefore does not conflict with the federal rule.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Swierkiewicz v. Sorema (2002) does not undermine the court's earlier decision in United States, ex rel. Newsham et al. v. Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. (see below) that the California anti-SLAPP motion to strike and entitlement to fees and costs are available in federal court.
In a case of first impression the court holds that subdivisions (b) and (c) of the California anti-SLAPP statute do not conflict directly with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and thus are applicable in federal diversity actions.
Verizon, as "incumbent local exchange carrier," had several interconnection agreements with Covad, a competitive carrier. Verizon sued Covad for fraud, alleging that Covad had issued false "trouble tickets" as part of a scheme to reduce its own service costs. Covad asserted counterclaims. The district court granted summary judgment for defendant Covad on Verizon's claims and summary judgment for Verizon on Covad's counterclaims. Defendants filed special motions to strike Verizon's original complaint under California's anti-SLAPP statute, but the court granted Verizon leave to amend its complaint and deferred ruling on the motions to strike pending receipt of the amended complaint. The court then denied the motions to strike based on an analysis of the amended complaint. Both parties appealed the summary judgments; Covad appealed the denial of the anti-SLAPP motion. The appellate court affirms the district court's denial of the anti-SLAPP motion on the grounds that "granting a defendant's anti-SLAPP motion to strike a plaintiff's initial complaint without granting the plaintiff leave to amend would directly collide with Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)'s policy favoring liberal amendment."
Plaintiffs filed a class action against a drug manufacturer, the American Psychiatric Assn. (APA), and Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), alleging that they promoted sales of Ritalin (used to treat hyperactivity) in violation of California's unfair business practice laws. Each defendant filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rules of Procedure as well as an anti-SLAPP motion. The district court declined to rule on the anti-SLAPP motions before it had ruled on the motions to dismiss, deeming such motions premature. The district court first granted all of the motions to dismiss and then granted all of the anti-SLAPP motions. The appellate court agrees with the district court's approach to ruling on the motions. It affirms the ruling on the anti-SLAPP motions of APA and CHADD on the grounds that the plaintiffs' causes of action arise from speech protected by the First Amendment and plaintiffs had not demonstrated a probability of prevailing on their claims as required by the anti-SLAPP statute. With respect to the drug manufacturer, however, because the court reverses the district court's dismissal of the complaint, it also reverses the grant of that defendant's anti-SLAPP motion. (See also DuPont Merck Pharm. Co. v. Superior Court, California Court of Appeal, 4th District.)
(Case summary in preparation.)
DISTRICT COURTS
Matt Drudge, who operates a news website, was sued by plaintiffs for defamation in 1997. Three years later Drudge filed a special motion to strike the complaint under California's anti-SLAPP statute. The judge denied the motion, in part because the motion was filed at such a late point in the proceedings, and, seemingly, in part because he did not believe the suit was "the type of action that the California legislature had in mind when it enacted the anti-SLAPP law," i.e., plaintiffs had not brought suit simply to harass Drudge.
(Case summary in preparation.)
(Case summary in preparation.)
This is a very complex case of patent infringement and numerous related causes of action, further complicated by issues of choice of law since the case was transferred from a district court in Illinois. Competitive Technologies filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike certain counterclaims asserted by Fujitsu. The court concludes that California law does not apply to Fujitsu's counterclaims .
The wife of U.S. Congressman Gary Condit sued the National Enquirer for libel based on statements published in two issues of the weekly publication. Defendant's motion to strike the complaint under the California anti-SLAPP statute is denied on the grounds that the allegedly defamatory statements did not concern a public issue and the plaintiff had demonstrated in her complaint that she could succeed on the merits.
(Case summary in preparation.)
After defendant registered the Worldwide Web (WWW) domain name "ecash.com", plaintiff filed federal claims of cyberpiracy, trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and trademark dilution. Defendant filed a counterclaim seeking cancellation of plaintiff's registration of the "eCash" mark and alleging unfair or unlawful business practices by plaintiff under state law. The court granted plaintiff's special motion to strike defendant's state law counterclaims pursuant to California's anti-SLAPP statute inasmuch as the counterclaims were based on a letter from plaintiff's counsel that was a communication related to pending litigation and therefore privileged under California Civil Code section 47(b).
(Case summary in preparation.)
Plaintiff fruit growers filed a complaint alleging various forms of alter ego liability, fraudulent transfers, and the existence of a racketeering enterprise against the corporate defendants and the law firm and individual attorneys who represented them (Fike defendants). The Fike defendants filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike several of the claims. The district court found that the section 425.17 exemption to the anti-SLAPP statute did not apply because it was strictly a private dispute, and the alleged actions of the Fike defendants did not involve marketing their services nor were representations made to potential consumers or to gain a competitive advantage. The court granted the motion to strike each cause of action because plaintiffs did not show a probability of prevailing on any of their claim.
Several individuals, using pseudonyms, posted remarks about a publicly traded telecommunications company in an Internet "chat-room." The company brought suit in state court, alleging trade libel, libel per se, interference with contractual relations and prospective economic advantage. Defendants removed the case to federal court. The court granted the defendants' anti-SLAPP motion, after finding that the company had not satisfied its burden of showing a probability of success on its claims for trade libel and defamation. The court concluded that, given the context of publication and the "colorful and figurative language" of the postings, defendants' statements about the company could not reasonably be understood to be factual.
Globetrotter made statements to the market concerning the products of Elan and Rainbow and subsequently sued the two companies. The defendant companies brought a number of state-law counterclaims for damages due to Globetrotter's statements. Globetrotter filed a special motion to strike the counterclaims under California's anti-SLAPP statute. The motion was denied on the grounds that statements by one company regarding the conduct of a competitor do not come within the statute's protection of Petition Clause conduct.
Plaintiff sued defendants for multiple causes, including defamation, based on "negative statements" about the company on an internet forum for discussion of large, publicly traded corporations. Defendant Woods, who had posted the remarks, filed a special motion to strike the complaint against him under the California anti-SLAPP statute. The court denies the motion on the grounds that the remarks did not concern a public issue and therefore are not protected by the statute.
(Case summary in preparation.)
Metabolife claimed that defendants, in statements on a TV broadcast, committed defamation, slander, trade libel, and intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. The trial court grants defendants' motion to dismiss under California's anti-SLAPP statute. It concludes that defendants' statements are protected by the First Amendment, either because they are true or represent opinion, and thus are covered by the anti-SLAPP statute. Because the court refuses to admit evidence proferred by Metabolife as expert evidence, Metabolife cannot demonstrate a probability of prevailing on its claims, as required by the anti-SLAPP statute. (See the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision in this case.)
Order granting attorney fees to defendant who prevailed on an anti-SLAPP motion.
Parties are Internet software publishers. New.net writes software that is downloaded from the Internet to an individual's computer without the knowledge or request of the computer owner. Lavasoft provides software that detects such programs and allows the computer owner to remove them. Plaintiff lost its bid for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Lavasoft from including New.net software in its list of removable programs. The court's denial was based in part on the grounds that Lavasoft, through its software, was engaged in expression protected under the First Amendment. Defendant then filed an anti-SLAPP motion against all state-law claims, which the court granted.
Nicosia sued DeRooy for defamation in connection with statements published about Nicosia on DeRooy's website. Nocosia was agent for the writer Jack Kerouac's daughter Jan. The court granted a special motion to strike the complaint under the California anti-SLAPP law, reasoning that the plaintiff was a limited-purpose public figure subject to the actual malice standard, had failed to plead actual malice with sufficient specificity, and therefore had failed to establish a probability that he would prevail in the case as required by the anti-SLAPP statute.
Rogers sued the National Enquirer, alleging libelous statements about her in a published article. The newspaper filed a special motion to strike the complaint under California's anti-SLAPP statute. The court determined that the anti-SLAPP statute's provision for staying discovery was inconsistent with Federal Rule of Procedure 56, and therefore postponed ruling on the motion until after the plaintiff had an opportunity to discover the identity of the purported confidential source of the published statements. "[I]f a defendant desires to make a special motion to strike based on the plaintiff's lack of evidence, the defendant may not do so until discovery has been developed sufficiently to permit summary judgment under Rule 56. Once the nonmoving party has been given the opportunity to conduct discovery, the special motion can be heard...."
Defendants brought counterclaims for tortious interference with economic advantage and unfair competition. Plaintiff filed an anti-SLAPP motion. Defendants' counterclaims were based on emails sent by plaintiff to retailers and media representatives who advertised the product in question, advising them of the lawsuit and asking them not to carry or advertise the product. The district court concluded that because the intended audience of the emails was actual or potential buyers or customers, or persons likely to repeat the statement to or otherwise influence an actual or potential buyer or customer, the counterclaims were exempt from the anti-SLAPP law, pursuant to CCP § 425.17(c).
Plaintiffs sued for copyright infringement and other causes of action, including interference with prospective economic advantage, after it terminated defendants' rights to use a song in a video production. Defendants filed a special (anti-SLAPP) motion to strike the complaints for interference with prospective economic advantage on the grounds that the complaints were based on statements made by defendant in anticipation of litigation with plaintiffs and therefore protected by California's "litigation privilege" statute. The court concludes that, before it can decide on the motion, it must resolve the factual question whether defendant's allegedly tortious statements were made "with a good faith belief in a legally viable claim and in serious contemplation of litigation" and therefore plaintiff must be permitted to conduct discovery on this point. Accordingly, the court does not apply the California anti-SLAPP statute's stay on discovery
(Case summary in preparation.)
Thomas was the subject of a biography on his experiences during World War II. Thomas claimed to be a member of the French resistance and, as an agent of the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps, to have uncovered evidence concerning Nazi concentration camp practices. After publication of the biography, an article critical of Thomas's claims appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Thomas sued for damages, alleging defamation by implication. Defendants filed a special motion to strike the complaint pursuant to the California anti-SLAPP statute. The district court grants the motion on the grounds that it is unlikely Thomas would prevail on the merits of his claim. The court analyzes in detail the Los Angeles Times article to reach the conclusion that it does not provide sufficient evidence of defamation by implication.
The Troy Group sued Tilson for defamation based on a statement Tilson made to his attorney in a lawsuit against Troy. Tilson filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike the complaint. The parties disputed whether Tilson's statement was "in connection with an issue of public interest" as required by the anti-SLAPP statute. The court grants Tilson's motion on the grounds that the public issue requirement was satisfied and Troy had not demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the merits of its claim.
OTHER COURTS
Held: California's anti-SLAPP statute is applicable in bankruptcy cases involving both federal questions and pendant state-law claims. The court agrees with the court in Globetrotter Software v. Elan Computer Group, Globetrotter v. Rainbow Technologies, Inc. (U.S. Dist. Ct. for No. Cal.; see above) that the anti-SLAPP statute is applicable to state-law claims but not to federal questions.