FYI:
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6ce5998c-024f-474d-a7e2-7e9b23c8bf90&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+Federal+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2013-08-06&utm_term= In Woody Allen's motion picture, Midnight in Paris, several literary lights of the 1920s appeared as characters including Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. Faulkner Literary Rights LLC, owner of copyrights of Faulkner sued. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case. The case raises a question of interest: namely, is some unauthorized copying of copyrighted works so minimal that the copying is permitted without even having to undertake the more rigorous statutory-based four-factor fair use defense analysis? In other words, if the de minimis standard could be invoked more easily instead of being a very rare copyright bird, courts could declare the unauthorized copying as legal -- and bypass the nuanced (albeit uncertain) weighing of the four fair use factors. In dismissing Faulkner's claim, the court said, "No substantial similarity exists between the copyrighted work and the allegedly infringing work." The court also said that it "is highly doubtful that any relevant markets have been harmed by the use in Midnight. How Hollywood's flattering and artful use of literary allusion is a point of litigation, not celebration, is beyond this court's comprehension. The court, in its appreciation for both William Faulkner as well as the homage paid him in Woody Allen's film, is more likely to suppose that the film indeed helped the plaintiff and the market value of Requiem if it had any effect at all." If so, the phrase no good deed goes unpunished comes to mind. deg farrelly, Media Librarian Arizona State University Libraries Hayden Library C1H1 P.O. Box 871006 Tempe, Arizona 85287-1006 Phone: 602.332.3103 --- http://tinyurl.com/AboutNMM To market, to market, to find some fresh film… I'm attending the 2013 National Media Market, November 3-7 In Charleston, South Carolina. See you there?
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