Reconsideration Denied On Claim of Lost Written Assignment

Tolliver v. McCants, No. 05 Civ. 10840, NYLJ 6/03/09 "Decision of Interest" (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2009)

The Court had previously granted plaintiff judgment on defendant's copyright infringement. Granting defendant reconsideration in part, the Court reinstated eight affirmative defenses. However, the Court denied reconsdiertion on defendant's claim of a lost written assignment.

Defendant could not rely on plaintiff's prior deposition testimony to create a genuine factual issue as to the written assignment's existence. Also, the Court noted that its earlier ruling found that defendant had admitted that the only written agreement with plaintiff was a recording contract concerning artist's royalties. The court discounted allegedly "new" evidence, and determined that defendant pointed to nothing undermining the Court's prior conclusion that no genuine factual issue existed regarding defendant's claim of a lost written assignment.