Murphy v. Eddie Murphy Productions, Inc.

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing with prejudice plaintiff's lawsuit alleging that defendants infringed on plaintiff's copyrighted material where original lawsuit had been dismissed on res judicata grounds, and where plaintiff twice failed to file amended complaint within deadlines set forth by Dist. Ct. Plaintiff failed to establish excusable neglect in failing to timely file amended complaint since: (1) plaintiff had been aware of operative facts regarding amended complaint for over three years; (2) defendant never identified valid reason for failing to file amended complaint within roughly seven-month time frame provided by Dist. Ct.; and (3) record suggested that plaintiff would have been unable to establish alleged fraud as alleged in original complaint.