Opinion ID: 767718
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bassett's lawsuit and the district court's ruling.

Text: 14 In September 1996, Bassett commenced this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. The complaint sought an injunction as well as other copyright remedies on the ground that the Tribe and the Museum used Bassett's copyrighted script without her consent or license in order to produce their own film; it further alleged that they breached the Letter Agreement, and that they committed various state-law torts resulting in injury to Bassett. It also charged Bell and Campisi with tortious interference with contract. The charge against Bell and Campisi was expanded in an amended complaint to allege that they infringed Bassett's copyrights in violation of federal law, while acting on behalf of the Tribe but beyond the scope of authority it could lawfully bestow on them. 15 In March 1997, Defendants moved to dismiss Bassett's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to exhaust tribal remedies. In their motion papers, Defendants argued (inter alia) that the court lacked federal question jurisdiction because Bassett's sole federal claim-her claim for copyright infringement-was incidental to her contract claims, and therefore did not arise under federal law. 16 The district court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, and Bassett appealed.