Opinion ID: 498391
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Federal Communications Act

Text: 49 Count VII of the complaint sought declaratory relief under the Federal Communications Act (FCA), 47 U.S.C. Sec. 605. The plaintiff interpreted the defendants' letter of January 10, 1986 as asserting that merely having an unauthorized antenna capable of receiving HBO programming is a violation of the defendants' rights under the FCA. The plaintiff claims that the defendant threatened him and members of the putative class with legal action based on this interpretation of the FCA, and asserts entitlement to a declaration that the interpretation is erroneous. 50 The district court declined to render a declaratory judgment on the FCA claim, relying on Professor Borchard's general rule that the declaration is an instrument of practical relief and will not be issued where it does not serve a useful purpose. See E. Borchard, Declaratory Judgments 307 (2d ed. 1941). The district court found the absence of a genuine dispute since no party to the litigation had ever asserted that it was unlawful merely to own an antenna capable of unauthorized reception of microwave signals. 51 The Declaratory Judgments Act provides that a court may  declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration.... 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2201 (emphasis added). The decision to grant or withhold a declaratory judgment is committed to the discretion of the district court, and that decision will not be reversed in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Exxon Corp. v. F.T.C., 588 F.2d 895 (3d Cir.1978). 52 Before a federal court may grant a declaratory judgment, there must be a live dispute between the parties. Cutaiar v. Marshall, 590 F.2d 523 (3d Cir.1979). There must be a substantial controversy between parties having adverse legal interests of sufficient immediacy and reality to warrant issuance of a declaratory judgment. The fundamental test is whether the plaintiff seeks merely advice or whether a real question of conflicting legal interests is presented for judicial determination. 53 Although the threat of legal action may present a real controversy, see Simmonds Aerocessories v. Elastic Stop Nut Corp., 257 F.2d 485 (3d Cir.1958), the remedy of a declaratory judgment is discretionary even where a justiciable controversy exists. Bituminous Coal Operators' Ass'n. Inc. v. International Union, United Mine Workers of America, 585 F.2d 586 (3d Cir.1978). 54 The defendants' letter is reasonably susceptible of the interpretation given by the district court, namely that the defendants were threatening to sue only those who were receiving the HBO signal. Thus it is purely a matter of conjecture whether the defendants have threatened to file suit on the theory on which the plaintiff has requested a declaration. the dispute lacks the immediacy and reality necessary to require a judicial declaration of rights as between the parties. 55 Based on the record before us, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that there was no actual controversy between the parties of sufficient immediacy to require judicial interpretation of the FCA as it affects the legal relations between the plaintiff and the defendant.IV. 56 All of the federal claims were properly dismissed. Absent a substantial federal question, the district court properly declined to exercise jurisdiction over the pendant state law claims set forth in the complaint. United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 1139, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). No extraordinary circumstances have been asserted to justify continuous jurisdiction over the pendent state claims. See Cooley v. Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, 830 F.2d 469 (3d Cir.1987). Accordingly, we will affirm the district court's dismissal of the complaint.