What was filed and where it sits now

The complaint is Document 1 in Moxie Pest Control, LP v. Echo Pest Control, LLC, No. 8:26-cv-00149-JFB-JMD (D. Neb.), filed April 7, 2026 (12 pages). In Nebraska the case was assigned to Senior Judge Joseph F. Bataillon and Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. DeLuca. The plaintiff is Moxie Pest Control, LP, a Texas limited partnership with its principal place of business in Provo, Utah. The defendant is Echo Pest Control, LLC, which the complaint alleges, on information and belief, is a Missouri limited liability company. Moxie demands a jury trial. (Compl. caption; paras. 2 to 3.) Echo answered the complaint on May 20, 2026 and also demanded a jury. On September 18, 2026, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. DeLuca granted Echo's motion to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) and transferred the case to the Western District of Missouri, Western Division (Kansas City). It was docketed there on October 20, 2026 as No. 4:26-cv-00981, and that docket lists Judge Brian C. Wimes as the assigned judge. (D. Neb. ECF Nos. 14, 22; W.D. Mo. ECF No. 23.)

The work

The complaint alleges Moxie's Sales Guide and related sales materials are original literary works, that Moxie registered the Sales Guide under Certificate of Copyright Registration No. TXU001773079 on November 14, 2011, and that the cover page bears copyright management information. It says Moxie published the Sales Guide by licensing it to a number of licensees. (Compl. paras. 8 to 14.)

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges Echo received copies of the copyrighted materials from a Moxie licensee that shares a common owner with Echo, and, on information and belief, that the licensee and Echo share many of the same members, officers, and employees. It alleges Echo is not itself a Moxie licensee. It alleges Echo reproduced the Sales Guide and falsified or altered the copyright management information by inserting Echo's name in place of or next to Moxie's. (Compl. paras. 1, 15 to 22.)

Counts and relief

The first cause of action is copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501. The second is removal or alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202. The prayer seeks judgment; a permanent injunction against infringement, copying of the guides, and falsifying, removing, or altering CMI; actual damages and profits; statutory damages; treble damages where available; and other relief. (Compl. Causes of Action; Prayer.)