Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

If the case is important to you, you'll want to hire a lawyer. All lawsuits involving copyright MUST be filed in a federal court. There are no canned forms for what you want to do. If someone thinks you are infringing their copyright, maybe there is a way to resolve the issue and avoid litigation.

Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction of copyright litigation. Among the first things you would need to do, if representing yourself, would include: (1) figuring out which Federal court would be the proper venue, based on the defendant's location or where the dispute centers; (2) determining whether there is a justiciable dispute that meets the Federal requirements for a declaratory relief suit; and (3) how someone in pro. per. may prepare, file and serve a summons and complaint in that particular district. Lawyers have to file electronically, at least in the Central District of California, serving the Los Angeles area, and must undergo a special training before they are qualified to file.

I would suggest some preliminary research to determine venue, obtain and study the local rules of the Federal District Court with proper venue, and the basics of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), especially those applying to the minimum acceptable contents of complaints and their filing and service.

Also note FRCP 57 and 28 U.S.C.A. 2201 re declaratory judgments, and consider whether the declaratory judgment by itself is adequate, or whether you also want to ask for damages or other relief.