UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO 

EASTERN DIVISION 

BRUCE LYLES, 

 

 Plaintiff, 

 

 Civil Action 2:12-cv-00751 

v. JUDGE GREGORY FROST 

Magistrate Judge Elizabeth P. Deavers 

 

CAPITAL - EMI MUSIC INC., et al., 

 

 Defendants. 

OPINION AND ORDER 

 Plaintiff, Bruce Lyles, filed the Complaint in this action on August 22, 2012. (ECF No. 

3.) The Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis on August 22, 

2012. (ECF No. 2.) On November 12, 2013, the Court granted Defendants’ Usher Raymond 

and Katy Perry’s Motions to Dismiss. (ECF No. 51.) The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims 

against Defendant Guetta on December 26, 2013. (ECF No. 59.) The only potential remaining 

Defendant is Taio Cruz. This matter is before the Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, which 

requires the Court to dismiss a claim at any time it determines that such claim is frivolous, 

malicious, or fails to state a claim. For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff’s claim against Mr. Cruz 

is DISMISSED. 

I.

Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the federal in forma pauperis statute, seeking to 

“lower judicial access barriers to the indigent.” Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 31 (1992). 

In doing so, however, “Congress recognized that ‘a litigant whose filing fees and court costs are 

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assumed by the public, unlike a paying litigant, lacks an economic incentive to refrain from 

filing frivolous, malicious, or repetitive lawsuits.’” Id. at 31 (quoting Neitzke v. Williams, 490 

U.S. 319, 324 (1989)). To address this concern, Congress included subsection (e)1

 as part of the 

statute, which provides in pertinent part: 

(2) Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been 

paid, the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that-- 

* * * 

(B) the action or appeal-- 

 (i) is frivolous or malicious; [or] 

(ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted . . . 

28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) & (ii) (emphasis added); see also Denton, 504 U.S. at 31. 

Accordingly, § 1915(e) requires sua sponte dismissal of an action upon the Court’s 

determination that the action is frivolous or malicious, or upon determination that the action fails 

to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 

 To properly state a claim for relief, a plaintiff must satisfy the basic federal pleading 

requirements set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). See Hill v. Lappin, 630 F.3d 468, 

470B71 (6th Cir. 2010) (applying Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) standards to analyze a 

complaint under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A and 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii)). Under Rule 8(a)(2), a complaint 

must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to 

relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Thus, Rule 8(a) “imposes legal and factual demands on the 

 1

 Formerly 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). 

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authors of complaints.” 16630 Southfield Ltd., P=Ship v. Flagstar Bank, F.S.B., 727 F.3d 502, 

503 (6th Cir. 2013). 

Although this pleading standard does not require “ ‘detailed factual allegations,’ . . . [a] 

pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause 

of action’ ” is insufficient. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. 

v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). A complaint will not “suffice if it tenders ‘naked 

assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). 

Instead, to survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), “a 

complaint must contain sufficient factual matter . . . to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on 

its face.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). Facial plausibility is established “when the 

plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 

defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. “The plausibility of an inference depends on 

a host of considerations, including common sense and the strength of competing explanations for 

the defendant=s conduct.” Flagstar Bank, 727 F.3d at 504 (citations omitted). Further, the Court 

holds pro se complaints ‘“to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.’” 

Garrett v. Belmont Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, No. 08-3978, 2010 WL 1252923, at *2 (6th Cir. Apr. 1, 

2010) (quoting Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972)). 

II.

The Court set out the facts of this case in its November 12, 2013 Opinion and Order 

(“Order”), which is incorporated herein. (ECF No. 51.) In that Order, the Court granted 

Defendants Katy Perry and Usher Raymond’s motion to dismiss the claims against them because 

Plaintiff “failed to plead factual allegations that raise a right to relief for copyright infringement 

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above the speculative level.” (Id. at 11.) 

Plaintiff’s only remaining claim in this lawsuit is for copyright infringement against Taio 

Cruz. This claim is related to the songs Where, written by Plaintiff, and Without You, written by 

Taio Cruz and performed by Usher Raymond. In the Order, however, the Court already 

determined that there is no substantial similarly between the songs Where and Without You such 

that Plaintiff failed to allege the elements of a copyright infringement claim. See id. at 10–11. 

Specifically, the Court stated the following with respect to the song Without You: 

Moreover, no ordinary, reasonable listener can listen to the two songs and 

conclude that they have a similar, much less the same, vocal melody. Nor do the 

songs have the same lyrics or even lyrics that address the same subject matter. 

Plaintiff’s Where appears to be about someone looking for a “sound”; in stark 

contrast, Without You is about someone who has lost a lover or companion and is 

devastated by it. The vocal style, lyrics, and melody of the two songs are 

completely different. 

(Id.) 

The same analysis that applied to Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant Raymond (for 

performing Without You) also applies to Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant Cruz (for writing 

Without You). Accordingly, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to state a claim 

against Defendant Cruz. 

III. 

For the foregoing reasons, the Court DISMISSES Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant 

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Taio Cruz pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e).2

 As Mr. Cruz is the last remaining Defendant in this 

litigation, the Clerk is DIRECTED to terminate this case from the docket records of the United 

States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

/s/ Gregory L. Frost 

GREGORY L. FROST 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 

 2

 On August 18, 2014, Plaintiff filed an Application for Entry of Default against Mr. 

Cruz, asserting that Mr. Cruz was properly served but failed to answer or otherwise respond to 

his Complaint. (ECF No. 63.) Given the uncertainty that Plaintiff properly effected international 

service over Mr. Cruz (see ECF Nos. 52 and 56), along with Plaintiff’s failure to state a claim, an 

entry of default would be inappropriate. See Simmons v. Ohio Civil Serv. Emp. Assoc., 259 

F.Supp.2d 677, 685-86 (6th Cir. 2003) (setting aside an entry of default where defendant was not 

properly served with pleadings); Washington v. McCoy, No. 1:12-cv-628, 2013 WL 1641369, at 

*1(S.D. Ohio April 16, 2013) (“Entry of default judgment is only appropriate where a defendant 

has failed “to plead or otherwise defend” against a properly served lawsuit” (citing Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 55)); LaFountain v. Johnson, 76 F.3d 379, at *2 (6th Cir. 1996) (setting aside an entry of 

default where defendant had a meritorious defense). 

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