CBC Wind Up, Inc. f/k/a Channing Bete Co., Inc. v. Greenberg et al. (19-cv-30032).

This case involves a contentious dispute between an exclusive licensee of an educational program and its original author, Greenberg.  CBC, the licensee, sought to sell its rights in the program, and alleged that the author made repeated efforts to block the sale to anyone other than himself, in violation of various agreements between the parties.  Greenberg filed a third-party complaint against entities to whom CBC had licensed the copyright in the program, contended that the further licenses were invalid without his consent.  CBC moved to dismiss this counterclaim. 

Magistrate Judge Robertson granted the Third-Party defendants’ motion to stay discovery pending the resolution of its motion to dismiss the counterclaim.  She noted that the resolution of the motion to dismiss in the defendants’ favor would obviate most, if not all, of the sought discovery, which would be costly and time-intensive to respond to.  She further noted that, while a stay would delay resolution of the matter (assuming the claim survives the motion to dismiss), no injunctive relief had been sought, and thus resolution was not likely to be imminent in any event.  Balancing the potential harms to each party, Judge Robertson granted the stay.