Turina v. Crawley, No. 10 C 4292, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 16, 2012) (Darrah, J.).
Judge Darrah granted pro se defendant summary judgment as to plaintiff’s copyright claims and dismissed plaintiff’s remaining state law claims for lack of jurisdiction. As an initial matter, the Court treated those portions of defendant’s response that disputed facts in plaintiff’s Local Rule 56.1 statement of facts as a Local Rule 56.1 response, but treated other, uncontested facts as admitted. Plaintiff failed to offer any proof of her copyright registration or her application for registration. But the Court took judicial notice of plaintiff’s registered copyright that the Court found on the Copyright Office website.
Having found that plaintiff had a registered copyright, the Court turned to defendant’s allegedly infringing use. Plaintiff, however, offered no evidence of defendant’s unauthorized use. Plaintiff hired defendant to edit her manuscript and defendant did so. Because defendant’s use was related to editing the manuscript, there was no infringing use. And as the Court lacked diversity jurisdiction over the state law claims, the Court dismissed them without prejudice to refile them in state court.