Peruto v. Roc Nation
Peruto v. Roc Nation
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Gerald Austin McHugh, United States District Judge *473In common parlance, when someone regrets words spoken in haste, the speaker of such words often follows up by saying: "I take that back." This is a case that tries to give legal force to that expression, as Plaintiff here seeks to replevy the contents of a recorded interview to keep embarrassing statements he made from being included in a film documentary. Courts have been virtually unanimous in limiting the remedy of replevin to physically tangible property. Putting to one side the profound First Amendment implications of Plaintiff's proposed relief-in the nature of a prior restraint-I conclude on technical legal grounds that replevin is not an available remedy for a dispute of this nature. I will therefore grant Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgement.
I. Factual Background
This dispute arises out of an interview Plaintiff gave in May 2018 for a documentary series entitled #FreeMeek. Defendants Roc Nation, Amazon Alternative, IPC Television, Josh Miller, Patrick Reardon, Eli Holzman, and Janet Kim are all involved in the production of the documentary. The focus of the series is rapper Robert Rihmeek Williams, better known as Meek Mill. It intends to address, at least in part, Meek Mill's experience with the criminal justice system, including his interactions with Judge Genece Brinkley of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Brinkley has overseen Mill's criminal case for more than a decade and became the subject of some controversy when she re-imprisoned him for probation violations. Facing public criticism, Judge Brinkley retained Plaintiff A. Charles Peruto, Jr. as her counsel.
On May 30, 2018, Mr. Peruto sat for an interview related to the #FreeMeek documentary series, which is the source of this dispute. The interview concluded with Peruto explaining why he believes Meek Mill does not represent an example of the problems in the criminal justice system. When Peruto finished, the interviewer and one of his colleagues indicated that they had no further questions.
After Mr. Peruto was given the opportunity to hear the full recording as a part of this litigation, he alleged that it had been edited and did not accurately portray the interaction. Accordingly, I ordered the parties to agree upon an expert who could evaluate the authenticity of the recording. A team of two experts, Catalin Grigoras and Jeff Smith, has since confirmed that the recording is authentic. See Expert Report, ECF No. 69. At oral argument, no party disputed its authenticity. Although the original recording equipment and storage media, which Defendants rented, no longer contain the recording, the recording is now stored on a variety of devices, including one in the possession of this Court.
Defendants moved to dismiss, and I have converted the motion to one for summary judgment. After considering all the evidence, I conclude that no disputed questions of material fact remain, and Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on the replevin claim.
II. Legal Standard
A District Court may convert a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment so long as the Court provides adequate notice of the conversion and reasonable opportunity to present material relevant to a summary judgment motion. In re Rockefeller Ctr. Props., Inc. Sec. Litig. ,
III. Discussion
Plaintiff brings a novel replevin claim seeking sole possession of the digital version of his oral communications. The material facts are undisputed. The parties agree that Mr. Peruto spoke the words in question without asking to go off the record and that Defendants recorded and electronically stored those words. Peruto's replevin claim does not seek possession of the equipment originally used to record him
The sole remaining question is one of law: whether Plaintiff has established a viable claim for replevin by showing that (1) the recording constituted a property interest subject to replevin, and (2) he had *475title and exclusive right to possess the property. See Com. v. Dean ,
Peruto first must show that the computer data and digital files containing the audio recording constitute a property interest properly subject to replevin. Replevin is a common law remedy dating back centuries. Fuentes v. Shevin ,
The computer data and digital files Peruto seeks represent intangible property beyond the reach of replevin. A stock certificate is a specialized instrument signifying a particular ownership interest. Hard drives, portable "thumb" drives, and data "cards," in contrast, store information of every conceivable form, encompassing audio, video, photos, spreadsheets, calculations, and every variety of text. The computer data and digital files that Peruto seeks to replevy represent one form of information, stored by various methods, none of them emblematic of the content of the data.
The computer data and digital files containing the recording of Peruto's oral communications are therefore unable to support a replevin action. Members of this court applying Pennsylvania law have considered a variety of digital property interests but have consistently found such interests unable to support a conversion claim. These decisions have noted the limitation the Superior Court identified and concluded that, because such digital property interests are both intangible, and not a form of intangible property typically merged with particular documents, they *476are not subject to conversion or replevin. See Eagle ,
Mr. Peruto contends that, because his words are embedded in stored computer data, such data qualifies as tangible property subject to replevin. Plaintiff's sole support is an unpublished trial court opinion in a New York state criminal case where the court concluded that a recording of a 911 call constituted "property" for purposes of the state's definition of Petit Larceny. See People v. Fountain , No. 16-1139, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 30674(U),
To the extent Peruto also asserts a property interest in his words themselves-separate from the data or files containing them-no court has held that the contents of a recording are subject to replevin. This is not surprising given the ephemeral nature of the spoken word. In Hydrogen Masters Rights, Ltd. ,
Even if Mr. Peruto could assert a property interest properly subject to replevin, however, he cannot claim title and an exclusive right to possess the property in question. The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing title and exclusive right of possession. See Blossom Prod. Corp. v. Nat'l Underwear Co. ,
Understandably so. Claiming exclusive possession of words knowingly communicated to others presents an inherent contradiction. Once words have been expressed to another, the speaker would seem to have forfeited the exclusive right to "possess" them, as they then exist in both parties' memories. If someone present creates a record of what was said, the physical means they employ to do so-whether written notes or electronic device-would have a tangible existence that could be appropriate for replevin. But the means of preservation are distinct from the words themselves.
However understandable Mr. Peruto's desire to retract his comments may be, Pennsylvania law does not recognize either the digital files containing the recording or the words themselves as property interests subject to replevin. Further, even if the digital files or the words were recoverable in replevin, Peruto cannot establish that he has title to or an exclusive right to possess them. Accordingly, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on the replevin claim will be granted.
Replevin is not a vehicle through which Mr. Peruto can "take back" what he said.
The details of this exchange are set out more extensively in my Memorandum addressing Plaintiff's related claims for wiretap violations.
Defendants leased the equipment used to record the interview, and the devices used to record and temporarily store the data have since been returned to their owner and overwritten with other data. This is immaterial, as Plaintiff does not assert an ownership interest in these devices and seeks return of the digital files that captured his voice.
Neither party disputes that conversion cases properly provide guidance in the replevin context. Replevin and conversion have long been considered together. McDonald v. Scaife , 1 Jones (PA) 381, 386,
In identifying this limitation, the Superior Court also noted that although "[t]here is perhaps no very valid and essential reason why there might not be conversion" of additional intangible property, such as ideas, "thus far other remedies apparently have been adequate." Northcraft ,
Although the court in Hydrogen Masters did not apply Pennsylvania law, the legal principles regarding replevin and conversion are sufficiently similar for the reasoning to have persuasive value.
At oral argument, Plaintiff's counsel attempted to distinguish Hydrogen Masters because defendants there owned the devices used to create and store the recordings. But the plaintiffs in Hydrogen Masters did not ground their argument in ownership of the equipment. They directly asserted ownership of the contents of the recordings. The court based its holding on its conclusion that intangible property is not subject to replevin.
Plaintiff also emphasizes the fact that the data is readily identifiable.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- A. Charles PERUTO, Jr. v. ROC NATION
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published