150_f.supp.2d_613 (dragged)

613RANDOM HOUSE, INC. v. ROSETTA BOOKS LLCCite as 150 F.Supp.2d 613 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)

and there is no suggestion that Congressintended a contrary meaning. To holdotherwise would make the remedy illusoryand the statute, therefore, ineffective. Nosuch purpose should be attributed to Con-gress on the legislative record presentedhere.

Accordingly, the State Defendants mo-tion for judgment on the pleadings as tothe individual State Defendants is also de-nied.

Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, the StateDefendants motion is denied in all re-spects.

SO ORDERED.

,

RANDOM HOUSE, INC., Plaintiff,

v.

ROSETTA BOOKS LLC and Arthur M.Klebanoff, in his individual capacityand as principal of Rosetta BooksLLC, Defendants.

No. 01 CIV. 1728(SHS).

United States District Court,S.D. New York.

July 11, 2001.

Exclusive licensee of right to distrib-ute copyrighted works of fiction in bookform brought copyright infringement ac-tion against alleged infringer, publishingworks as e books on Internet pursuant

to other license agreements. Exclusive li-censee sought preliminary injunction. TheDistrict Court, Stein, J., held that: (1) ex-clusive licensee was not likely to prevail onclaim that licenses conferring right to pub-lish in book form covered publication inelectronic form on Internet, and (2) bal-ance of hardships did not favor exclusivelicensee.

Injunction motion denied.

1. Federal Courts O412.1Interpretation of an agreement pur-

porting to grant a copyright license is amatter of state contract law.

2. Contracts O143(2)Under New York law, contract lan-

guage is ambiguous if it is capable ofmore than one meaning when viewed ob-jectively by a reasonably intelligent personwho has examined the context of the entireintegrated agreement and who is cognizantof the customs, practices, usages and ter-minology as generally understood in theparticular trade or business. N.Y.McKin-neys Uniform Commercial Code 2202,comment 1.

See publication Words and Phras-es for other judicial constructionsand definitions.

3. Contracts O176(2) Evidence O448

Under New York law, if the languageof a contract is ambiguous, interpretationof the contract becomes a question of factfor the finder of fact and extrinsic evidenceis admissible.

4. Copyrights and Intellectual PropertyO48License permitting dissemination of

copyrighted work in particular medium ex-

4a: persons in command; specif: govern-mentnow usu. used in pl. in the concrete[the local authorities of each state] and sing.

in the abstract [the public ~ is responsible forour protection]).