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Thornton v. J. Jargon Co.

580 F. Supp. 2d 1261 (2008)

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Thornton v. J. Jargon Co.

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
580 F. Supp. 2d 1261 (2008)

Facts

John Thornton (plaintiff) wrote a trivia-oriented quiz called “The Official Baby Boomer Qualifying Exam” (BBQE), which he maintained on his website. Jeanette Linders (defendant) wrote Menopause: The Musical. Linders’s company, TOC Productions, Inc. (TOC) (defendant) produced the musical in cities throughout the country beginning in 2003. J. Jargon Co. (defendant) held the rights to the musical. In 2006 Thornton attended a performance of the musical and noticed that the program included an “age test” that included questions apparently taken from the BBQE. Thornton contacted Linders to seek copyright attribution. Although the copyright was apparently added to later programs, Thornton brought a copyright-infringement suit against Linders, TOC, and J. Jargon in federal district court. As an affirmative defense, Linders and TOC asserted that Thornton’s claim was barred by the statute of limitations. Other affirmative defenses included unclean hands and laches. Thornton moved for summary judgment with respect to the affirmative defenses.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Whittemore, J.)

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