NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

COLOR SWITCH LLC; COLOR SWITCH 

PRODUCTIONS, INC., 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

 v. 

FORTAFY GAMES DMCC, 

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 19-15843 

D.C. No. 

1:18-cv-00419-DAD-JLT 

MEMORANDUM*

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of California

Dale A. Drozd, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted June 11, 2020

San Francisco, California

Before: SCHROEDER and BUMATAY, Circuit Judges, and MORRIS,** District 

Judge.

Plaintiffs-Appellants Color Switch LLC and Color Switch Productions, Inc. 

(collectively “Color Switch”) appeal the district court’s order granting DefendantAppellee Fortafy Games DMCC’s (“Fortafy”) motion to dismiss. We affirm.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent 

except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

** The Honorable Brian M. Morris, United States District Judge for the 

District of Montana, sitting by designation.

FILED

JUN 26 2020

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
2 19-15843 

Color Switch created a mobile game, otherwise known as an app, and 

entered into an agreement with Fortafy that called for Fortafy to publish and update 

the game as necessary. The game proved financially successful for both parties, but 

Color Switch nonetheless exercised the agreement’s termination clause and 

demanded that Fortafy return the game to Color Switch. Fortafy refused. Color 

Switch sued Fortafy for Copyright Act infringement and requested declaratory 

relief on the same grounds. The district court dismissed both claims based on a 

forum selection clause in the parties’ agreement that required the parties to bring 

“[a]ny dispute arising in connection with this Agreement” in the Court of Dubai.

Color Switch now alleges that the district court made five errors. We review 

de novo Color Switch’s alleged error that its Copyright Act claim and request for 

declaratory judgment fall outside the scope of the forum selection clause. See Doe 

1 v. AOL LLC, 552 F.3d 1077, 1081 (9th Cir. 2009). We review for an abuse of 

discretion Color Switch’s three alleged errors that relate to the clause’s 

enforceability. See Petersen v. Boeing Co., 715 F.3d 276, 279 (9th Cir. 2013). We 

review de novo Color Switch’s remaining claim that the district court should have 

granted it an evidentiary hearing or leave to amend. See id. at 282.

Color Switch’s Copyright Act claim and request for declaratory judgment 

fall within the scope of the agreement’s forum selection clause. We apply federal 

law to determine the scope of a forum selection clause. Manetti-Farrow, Inc. v. 
3 19-15843 

Gucci Am., Inc., 858 F.2d 509, 513 (9th Cir. 1988). Federal law dictates that we 

give words in a contract their common meaning. Simonoff v. Expedia, Inc., 643 

F.3d 1202, 1205 (9th Cir. 2011). This Court has recognized that “relating to” 

carries the same definition as “in connection with.” See Yei A. Sun v. Advanced 

China Healthcare, Inc., 901 F.3d 1081, 1086 (9th Cir. 2018). And forum selection 

clauses that contain the phrase “relating to” cover “disputes that reference the 

agreement or have some ‘logical or causal connection’ to the agreement.” Id.

(quoting John Wyeth & Bro. Ltd. v. CIGNA Int’l Corp., 119 F.3d 1070, 1074 (3d 

Cir. 1997) (Alito, J.)). The dispute here “reference[s] the agreement” because 

Fortafy claims that it has ownership rights to the game based on the agreement. A

court would have to interpret Fortafy’s ownership rights under the agreement to 

resolve Color Switch’s Copyright Act claim and request for declaratory judgment. 

The dispute thus falls within the scope of the forum selection clause. See id.

The district court acted within its discretion when it found that the forum 

selection clause did not result from fraud or coercion. Color Switch failed to 

provide evidence that the forum selection clause, in particular, resulted from fraud 

or coercion. See Petersen, 715 F.3d at 282. Further, Color Switch’s general 

allegations that Fortafy would withhold payments owed to Color Switch do not rise 

to the level of fraud or coercion absent any specific information about the amount 

of money that Fortafy allegedly threatened to withhold and Color Switch’s right to
4 19-15843 

that money.

The district court acted within its discretion when it found that the Court of 

Dubai would not deprive Color Switch of its day in court. Color Switch provided 

evidence that the Court of Dubai does not offer the same remedies as courts here.

Color Switch needed to provide evidence, however, that the Court of Dubai would 

provide no remedies. See Yei A. Sun, 901 F.3d at 1091–92. Further, Color Switch 

cannot prevail on the argument that the Court of Dubai would apply UAE law 

because “forum non conveniens doctrine does not guarantee the plaintiff its choice 

of law.” Creative Tech, Ltd. v. Aztech Sys. Pte., Ltd., 61 F.3d 696, 701 (9th Cir. 

1995). 

The district court acted within its discretion when it found that the forum 

selection clause does not contravene a strong public policy of the United States.

Color Switch failed to identify a statute or judicial decision that “clearly states” a 

strong public policy that the forum selection clause contravenes. Yei. A. Sun, 901 

F.3d at 1090. The Copyright Act contains no such clear statement.

The district court acted within its discretion when it denied Color Switch an

evidentiary hearing and leave to amend. A district court may deny leave to amend 

a pleading when leave to amend would prove futile. See Nunes v. Ashcroft, 375 

F.3d 805, 808 (9th Cir. 2004). Color Switch told the district court that it possessed

new evidence that related to whether the forum selection clause resulted from 
5 19-15843 

coercion. The district court gave Color Switch the opportunity to present this

evidence in a sur-reply. Color Switch failed to provide any new evidence in that 

sur-reply. Given this failure, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding 

that any further amendments or hearings would prove futile. 

AFFIRMED.