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Second Circuit Review: Complete Preemption of State Law Claims Under the Copyright Act
July 28, 2004 Full PDF
The July 28 edition of the New York Law Journal "Second Circuit Review" features an article written by Martin Flumenbaum and Brad Karp, "Complete Preemption of State Law Claims Under the Copyright Act." The article discusses a recent decision -- Briarpatch Limited, L.P. v. Phoenix Pictures, Inc. -- in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified the circumstances under which state law claims are preempted by the Copyright Act and extended federal jurisdiction to such claims. Although plaintiffs' complaint made no mention of federal or copyright law, the court relied on a recently articulated Supreme Court standard for complete preemption of state law claims, and ruled that certain state law claims preempted by the Copyright Act are subject to federal jurisdiction. Marty and Brad indicate that the court's decision is noteworthy because a defendant generally cannot remove a state law claim simply on the basis of a federal statute's preemptive effect, unless Congress manifested its intent to create removal jurisdiction under the statute. They conclude that with Briarpatch, the Second Circuit has emphasized that the Copyright Act provides the exclusive remedy for claims falling within its subject matter and general scope. The editor notes that Anna-Lisa Corrales assisted in the preparation of this article.