Opinion ID: 569100
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Jurisdictional Arguments

Text: 23 Plaintiffs make three other arguments against application of the exhaustion doctrine; the first two are based on statutes while the third relies on case law. First, they argue that they are not required to proceed through the process set forth in the Customs regulations because federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over copyright actions. It is true that the district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over such actions under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a) (1988), but that jurisdiction is exclusive of the courts of the states. Id. Simple logic dictates that because federal courts have jurisdiction exclusive of the states provides no help in deciding whether their jurisdiction is also exclusive of an administrative proceeding within the executive branch. 24 Nor does it make sense that Congress would vest exclusive jurisdiction in the courts at the same time it directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enact regulations to aid in the prevention of copyright infringement, implicitly contemplating some determination by that agency as to whether an item might be infringing. In addition, though plaintiffs claim that the legislative histories of 17 U.S.C. §§ 602 and 603 indicate Congress gave Customs authority over importation of infringing copies only because foreign importers outside the jurisdiction were not amenable to being sued in the United States, whereas plaintiffs are amenable to suit, the statute itself contains no such limitation of Customs' authority. 25 Plaintiffs urge further that because Mattel had a choice of remedies under the Copyright Act and the Regulations, see 17 U.S.C. § 501(b) (1988) (right to bring action for infringement) and 19 C.F.R. § 133.43 (1990) (right to pursue exclusion order), it follows that Congress did not choose administrative procedures over court action and that plaintiffs should also be entitled to a similar choice. This proposition is a non-sequitur. By enacting the copyright laws Congress favored creators of original works over those who might copy them. This policy is furthered by granting copyright holders a broader range of legal options to protect themselves from infringement than those given alleged infringers to press their claims of innocence. It is not our place to interfere with this unsurprising scheme. Congress has already balanced the interests of the importer and the copyright owner. Cf. Schlesinger, 420 U.S. at 757-58, 95 S.Ct. at 1312-13 (by enacting the Code, Congress formulated a device to adjust competing interests; implicit in it is the view that the system of military courts is adequate to its assigned task). 26 Plaintiffs also cite two cases, Croton Watch Co. v. Laughlin, 208 F.2d 93 (2d Cir.1953), and L. Batlin & Son, Inc. v. Snyder, 394 F.Supp. 1389 (S.D.N.Y.1975), aff'd en banc, 536 F.2d 486 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 857, 97 S.Ct. 156, 50 L.Ed.2d 135 (1976), to support their view that the district court has authority to decide issues of copyright in cases involving Customs detention. Neither is helpful. In Croton, the question of exhaustion of remedies and the impact on the court's jurisdiction arising from the presence of administrative remedies was not in issue. Id. at 96. In Snyder, the jurisdictional question was not discussed, rather the court merely held that there was little likelihood that the defendant would be successful on the merits because the copyright at issue was found to be a work in the public domain without originality. Id. at 1390. That case too does not implicate the doctrine of the exhaustion of administrative remedies, the first panel opinion reversing the district court noted it did not appear that exhaustion had even been raised. See L. Batlin & Son, Inc. v. Snyder, 187 U.S.P.Q. 721, 724 n. 4 (2d Cir.1975). Thus, neither case provides persuasive, much less binding, authority that the district court should exercise its discretion to provide equitable relief in a case involving Customs' detention of imported goods. 27