## Facts

- Claire Kenneth De Bardossy, a Hungarian-born novelist living in the United States, authored two romance novels, *Night in Cairo* and *Rendezvous in Rome*.
- Sandor Puski, a Hungarian-born publisher associated with Corvin Hungarian Books, knew De Bardossy and was alleged to have had authorization to publish Hungarian-language editions in the United States.
- In the late 1980s, Puski relocated to Hungary and operated a publishing business there.
- De Bardossy alleged that defendants published her novels in Hungary without authorization.
- The alleged infringing acts of publication and distribution occurred in Hungary, not within the United States.
- The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment in a federal copyright infringement action and a counterclaim seeking a declaration of worldwide Hungarian-language publishing rights.

## Issues

1. Whether a federal court has subject-matter jurisdiction under the Copyright Act over infringement claims based on acts of publication and distribution occurring wholly outside the United States.
2. Whether the Copyright Act applies extraterritorially when the plaintiff identifies no actionable infringing act committed within the United States.

## Decision

- The court held it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because the alleged infringing conduct occurred entirely abroad.
- The court treated the Copyright Act as territorial in scope and inapplicable to purely foreign acts of infringement.
- The court found no qualifying domestic infringing act to support a claim “arising under” U.S. copyright law; transporting lawfully made copies from the United States to Hungary, standing alone, was not alleged to be an infringement.
- The court dismissed the complaint and, for the same jurisdictional reason, dismissed defendants’ counterclaim.
- The court did not reach the merits of infringement or the scope of any license between the parties.

## Legal Principles

- The Copyright Act is generally territorial and does not regulate acts of copying, publication, or distribution occurring wholly outside U.S. boundaries.
- A plaintiff must identify an actionable infringing act occurring within the United States to maintain a federal copyright infringement action.
- The mere export or transport of lawfully produced copies from the United States to a foreign country, without more, does not establish a domestic infringement sufficient to invoke the Copyright Act.

## Conclusion

The court dismissed both sides’ claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because the dispute concerned alleged publication and distribution in Hungary, and U.S. copyright law did not apply absent a domestic infringing act.


De Bardossy v. Puski, 763 F. Supp. 1239 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)