Anderson v. Stallone
Anderson v. Stallone | |
---|---|
Court | |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | William D. Keller |
Keywords | |
Copyright infringement |
Anderson v. Stallone, 11 U.S.P.Q.2d 1161 (
Introduction
Timothy Burton Anderson, an author who wrote a script for the film Rocky IV, brought the suit for
Case background
In June 1982, after viewing the movie
The case was argued before District Judge
The Court determined that the characters from the original movies were afforded copyright protection, using a standard borrowed from Judge Learned Hand in Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.. The key to the standard is that copyright protection is afforded when a character is developed with enough specificity to constitute protectable expression.
It was strikingly clear to the Court that Anderson's work was a derivative work; that under 17 U.S.C. section 106(2) derivative works are the exclusive privilege of the copyright holder (Stallone, in this case); and that since Anderson's work is unauthorized, no part of it can be given protection.
Anderson attempted to argue that Congressional history of 17 U.S.C. section 103(a) indicates that Congress intended non-infringing portions of derivative works to be protected. The Court disagreed, citing legal scholarship (copyright law professors Melville and David Nimmer) and case law interpretations of 103(a).
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-78990-249-5.
- ISBN 978-1-107-06552-9.
External links
- Anderson v. Stallone, 11 U.S.P.Q.2d 1161 (C.D. Cal 1989)