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Withtheparties’consent,thiscasewasreassignedtotheundersignedforallpurposes,includingtrialandtheentryofjudgment,pursuantto28U.S.C.§636(c).
AARONGREENSPAN,Plaintiff,v.CIVILACTIONNO.11-12000-RB
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RANDOMHOUSE,INC.,MEZCO,INC.,BENJAMINMEZRICH,COLUMBIAPICTURESINDUSTRIES,INC.a/k/aSONYPICTURES a/k/aCOLUMBIATRISTARMOTIOPICTUREGROUP,Defendants.
 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON MOTION OF RANDOM  HOUSE, INC., MEZCO, INC., AND  BENJAMIN MEZRICH TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE (#17) AND DEFENDANT COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.’S  MOTION TO DISMISS COMPLAINT (#22)
Case 1:11-cv-12000-RBC Document 50 Filed 05/09/12 Page 1 of 39
 
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MezrichisaMassachusettsresidentwhoisallegedtobe“acontractororotheragentofRandoHouse,andisanownerand/oragentof”Mezco.(#1¶19)
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COLLINGS,U.S.M.J.
I.Introductio
Eventsanen
thecreationofFaceboo
in2003-2004andthewebsite’subsequentdevelopmenthavebeenthesubjectofagreatdealofwritten commentary,amovieandsubstantiallitigation.Thiscase,filedsevenyearafterFaceboo
waslaunched,isperhapsthelatestexampleofthisphenomenon.OnNovember18,2011,
 prose
plaintiffAaronGreenspan(“Greenspan)filedafive-countcomplaintseekingdamagesandinjunctivereliefagainsdefendantsRandomHouse,Inc.(RandomHouse”),Mezco,Inc.(Mezco”),BenjaminMezrich(“Mezrich),andColumbiaPicturesIndustries,Inc.a/k/a SonyPicturesa/k/aColumbiaTristarMotionPictureGroup(collectively,“ColumbiaPictures”).Greenspan,a2004graduateofHarvardUniversity,isthauthorofabookentitled
 Authoritas:OneStudent'sHarvardAdmissionsandth FoundingoftheFacebookEra
("
 Authoritas
").(#1¶¶16,26)RandomHouse,aNewYorkcorporation,isthepublisherofabook,
TheAccidentalBillionaires:TheFoundingofFacebook:ATaleofSex,Money,Genius,andBetrayal
(“ 
Th AccidentalBillionaires
”),authoredbyMezrich 
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.(#12,4,17)Accordingt
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AMassachusettscorporation,Mezcoisallegedtobealistedownerofthecopyrightsin
TheAccidentalBillionaires
.(#1¶18)
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theallegationsofthecomplaint,
TheAccidentalBillionaires
“isanunauthorizederivativeof[Greenspans]non-fictionbook
 Authoritas.
”(#1¶2)Mezc
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andRandomHousepurportedly“soldderivativerights,includinmotionpicturerights,in
TheAccidentalBillionaires
to”ColumbiaPictures,
DelawarecorporationregisteredtodobusinessinMassachusetts.(#1¶¶3,20)ColumbiaPicturesmadeandreleasedamovie,
TheSocialNetwork
(“TheFilm”),basedon
TheAccidentalBillionaires
.(#13)Asaresultofthedefendants’actions,theplaintiffhasadvancedclaimsocopyrightinfringementinviolationoftheUnitedStatesCopyrightAct,17U.S.C.§§101
etseq 
.(CountI,II,III),unfaircompetitionandfalseadvertisingiviolationofsection42(a)oftheLanhamAct,15U.S.C.§1125(a)(CountIV),andastatelawclaimofdefamation(CountV).DefendantsMezrich,Mezco,andRandomHousehavemovedtodismiswithprejudiceallcountsofthecomplaintpursuanttoFed.R.Civ.P.12(b)(6)(#17),andhavefiledamemorandumoflaw(#18)andanaffidavit(#19)isupportoftheirmotion.DefendantColumbiaPicturesseparatelyhasfiledRule12(b)(6)motion(#22)togetherwithamemorandumoflaw(#23)an
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