Judge Paul Crotty
Boehm and Stluka licensed sports-related photographs through Getty Images (US) Inc. They alleged defendants infringed their copyrighted images by exceeding the scope of “editorial” licenses bought through Getty Images, and by copying the pictures absent license. No party is a New York resident. Stluka and Boehm live in Wisconsin and Illinois. The Zimpriches are Wisconsin residents, and Legends of the Field LLC has corporate offices and stores in Wisconsin—the site of the allegedly infringing activity. Headquartered in Seattle, Getty’s “edit desk” for its sports collection is in New York. The plaintiffs never disputed that defendants never sold nor advertised their products in, nor physically entered, New York. Although the court did not dismiss suit, it transferred action to the Western District of Wisconsin. There was no basis on which any defendant could be “found” in New York under 28 USC §1400(a). Their only New York connection was that they bought the licenses at issue through Getty’s website and consented to an adhesive contract that included New York choice-of-law and arbitration clauses. Those clauses’ presence did not show defendants’ purposeful availment of the privilege of conducting activities in New York.
