The Secret Litigation

There is currently a copyright litigation regarding the DVD and best selling book, The Secret.

The Director, Drew Heriot, is suing Rhonda Byrne in Federal Court in Chicago. Byrne's Eastern European company, TS Productions, is suing Drew in Federal Court in Melbourne, Australia.

Although these cases do not directly concern the Internet, they raise interesting questions regarding jurisdiction and appropriate forum.

I am representing Drew Heriot.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/arts/26secr.html
and
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24223394-5012694,00.html

Jurisdiction: Maryland v. Carefirst Pregnancy

Carefirst of Maryland v. Carefirst Pregnancy, a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision involves issues of Internet jurisdiction. The court ruled that absent a manifest intent to target residents of the forum, a semi-interactive website with a localized focus based in a foreign state is not sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction. The fact that web hosting services occurred within the forum state was not seen as relevant.
Decision at http://laws.findlaw.com/4th/021137p.html