Jones v. West Plains Bank & Trust Co., No. 15-1714 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against defendants for copyright infringement and conversion. The district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's claim for copyright infringement and denied plaintiff's motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Then the district court entered final judgment dismissing with prejudice the copyright infringement claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). The court concluded that the district court abused its discretion by entering final judgment under Rule 54(b) where the district court did not properly weigh the Rule 54(b) factors. In this case, the district court cited no hardship or injustice which would result if plaintiff is not able to immediately appeal the order dismissing the copyright infringement claim, and none is apparent from the record. Even if the court were to accept as a valid Rule 54(b) factor the interest in avoiding further litigation, it is not apparent that accepting jurisdiction and reaching the merits of plaintiff's appeal would further this interest. There remains a chance that plaintiff will later appeal the measure of damages for conversion, which would create precisely the type of piecemeal appeal the court seeks to avoid. Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
Court Description: Bye, Author, with Riley, Chief Judge, and Gruender, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Civil Procedure.The district court abused its discretion when it granted Rule 54(b)certification on plaintiff's claim for copyright infringement, as it is not clear that resolution of the claim would avoid further litigation in the case, given outstanding issues concerning plaintiff's claim for conversion of the songs and recordings at issue, and the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
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