Ellison V. Fantagraphics Changes Courts
In a message board thread at The Comics Journal, Gary Groth announces a new development in the lawsuit brought against Groth, Kim Thompson, and Fantagraphics, Inc. by Harlan Ellison: a change of jurisdiction. The case has been moved from the Superior Court of California to a Federal court.
Groth explains the reasoning behind the move:
"Higher courts have less patience with frivolous nuisance suits."
And outlines the defendants' next steps:
"The next move -- after moving it to the Federal courts -- is to file a motion to dismiss, which we'll do around the end of next week. This promises to be an amusing and eye-opening document."
I was wondering if the change in judicial levels would necessitate any revision of either the plaintiff's complaint or the defendants' response. According to this Wikipedia entry, a federal district court is able to "answer claims based on state law," such as Ellison's complaint regarding "Right of Publicity pursuant to California Civil Code Section 3344").
But no one has mentioned the substance of the motion that led to the reassignment of the suit, so I don't know what the impetus was. Were I to hazard a guess, it would be diversity jurisdiction.
