IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-30647
Conference Calendar
JOSEPH JOHNSON; WARDELL QUEZERGUE,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
versus
TUFF N RUMBLE MANAGEMENT, INC., Etc; ET AL.,
Defendants,
JOE JONES, JR., doing business as Melder Publishing,
Defendant-Appellant.
--------------------
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana
USDC No. 99-CV-1374-R
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April 11, 2001
Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, and JONES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
After Joe Jones, Jr., filed a notice of appeal from the
district court’s order granting the plaintiff-appellees’ motion
for summary judgment and imposing sanctions against him pursuant
to Fed. R. Civ. P. 11, the clerk of this court ordered the
parties to brief the issue whether this court had jurisdiction
over the appeal. Jones has not done so.
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 00-30647
-2-
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, federal appellate courts have
jurisdiction over appeals from final orders and "a small class of
orders, which finally determine issues separate from the merits
of the case, which have been deemed appealable as collateral
orders." See Dardar v. Lafourche Realty Co., Inc., 849 F.2d 955,
957 (5th Cir. 1988). The district court’s summary-judgment
determination that Jones did not own a copyright interest does
not conclusively determine the copyright-infringement claim and
thus does not fall under the collateral-order doctrine. See
Matter of Aucoin, 35 F.3d 167, 170 (5th Cir. 1994); Lakedreams v.
Taylor, 932 F.2d 1103, 1107 (5th Cir. 1991). The court’s order
awarding Rule 11 sanctions is not final under § 1291 and is not
appealable pursuant to the collateral-order doctrine. Click v.
Abilene Nat’l Bank, 822 F.2d 544, 545 (5th Cir. 1987).
Accordingly, the appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.
See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). All outstanding motions are
DENIED. In addition, we IMPOSE a $500 sanction against Jones for
filing this frivolous appeal and for the contumacious language in
his appellate filings.