Cameo Clips

Screenplays/Copyright Ownership

Screenplay treatment writers weren't entitled to reclaim the copyright from a work-for-hire agreement they signed, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has decided. Morris v. Castle Rock Entertainment Inc., 01-9709 (Feb. 19). In 1980, Kyle Morris and William Richert wrote a screenplay treatment titled 'The President Elopes' under work-for-hire agreement with Richert International Corp. (RIC). The film rights were sold to several studios over several years until in 1992, Castle Rock Entertainment, through director Rob Reiner, agreed to be involved in producing the movie and hired Aaron Sorkin to write a new screenplay. In 1995, the Writers Guild of America, West, awarded Sorkin sole writer's credit on the film, now titled 'The American President.' Sorkin also later created and produced the TV series 'The West Wing' about life in the White House. Morris and Richert filed suit alleging that both 'The American President' and 'The West Wing' infringed on the copyright for 'The President Elopes.' To proceed with the suit, the plaintiffs argued that they should reclaim the copyright in 'The President Elopes' because they had not been paid an upward adjustment as required by their writers' agreement. Dismissing the suit, the district court noted, ” most courts that have considered the issue have rejected the notion that the creator of a work for hire may reclaim the copyright in his work once there has been a breach of the work for hire agreement by the commissioning party …. Even if such a termination [breach] of the Contract occurred, the Contract explicitly stated that such termination would not affect ' ownership of the rights with respect to the work produced by the Plaintiffs. In addition, the Contract contained no explicit rescission clauses that would allow the Plaintiffs to reclaim their copyright.'

Television/Sports

The Minnesota Twins secured an acceptable stadium through the term of the baseball team's telecast agreement, including option years, with Fox Sports to entitle the team to bonus payments under the broadcast deal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has decided. Fox Sports Net North LLC v. Minnesota Twins Partnership, 02-3043 (Feb. 10). Under the agreement, Fox Sports had the right to televise Twins games from 1998 through 2001. An option clause allowed Fox Sports to extend the contract for two additional seasons if, by the end of the 2001 season, the Twins were able to “secure an acceptable stadium solution, excluding a new stadium.” Doing so would entitle the Twins to bonus payments of 25% of the annual license fees for each subsequent year. In 1998, the Twins signed a lease agreement with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission obligating the team to continue playing home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis through the 2000 season, with three one-year option clauses that the Twins could exercise to use the Metrodome through the 2003 season. Fox Sports claimed, however, that the Twins had not obligated itself to play in the stadium through 2003 because the one-year option clauses hadn't yet been exercised. The appeals court noted, 'Fox suggests that the Twins secured an acceptable stadium solution sufficient to entitle it to televise Twins games in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but that no acceptable stadium solution existed that would have triggered the Twins' right to bonus payments. We decline Fox's invitation to define 'acceptable stadium solution' differently for different sections of the contract.'

Music Publishing/Copyright Infringement

A music publisher failed to allege a viable copyright infringement claim against associate Mary J. Blige producer Scott Storch, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled. Brought to Life Music Inc. v. MCA Records Inc., 02-1164 (Feb. 14). Brought to Life claimed that the defendants, which included Storch, producer Dr. Dre and artist Mary J. Blige, had infringed on the music publisher's work 'Sam Adams.' The complaint alleged that Storch had given a copy of 'Sam Adams,' a portion of which appeared on Blige's recording 'Family Affair,' to Dr. Dre. Dismissing the suit, the district court stated, 'Plaintiff here has not alleged that Storch has violated any of its alleged exclusive rights in its works. Specifically, Storch is not alleged to have i) reproduced plaintiff's work; ii) prepared derivative works based on plaintiff's work; iii) distributed copies of plaintiff's work to the public for sale; or iv) performed plaintiff's work publicly by means of digital audio transmission. See 17 U.S.C. '106. Plaintiff has not attempted to describe 'by what acts and during what time' Storch infringed the copyright.' The court also held that there was no viable contributory infringement claim because it hadn't been alleged that Storch knew of or had substantially participated in the alleged infringement. Finally, the district court decided that it lacked personal jurisdiction over Pennsylvania resident Storch, whose New York activities included involvement with musical recordings produced in New York, deriving income from the sale of records in New York, musical performances in New York and a co-publishing relationship in New York. The court concluded that these activities didn't constitute 'continuous and systematic contacts' in the state as required by N.Y. CPLR Sec. 301.

Music Publishing/Tax Deductions

The phrase 'all net sums actually received” in contracts between songwriters and a music publisher didn't encompass the benefit of foreign tax credits that the publisher took on its U.S. income tax payments, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, has held. Evans v. Famous Music Corp., 13 (Feb. 6). The contracts entitled the songwriters to 50% of the net sums that Famous Music received, less all expenses, charges and tax deductions. Foreign sub-publishers paid Famous Music after deducting their fees and the taxes imposed by the foreign jurisdictions. The lower court found that the publishing contracts clearly and unambiguously obligated Famous Music to include the songwriters in the benefit of any foreign tax credits. Unanimously reversing, the appellate court noted: 'Although it is argued that the contractual language entitles plaintiffs to half the value of any benefit of a foreign tax credit, the specific language of these contracts specifically identifies and delineates all of the royalties in which plaintiffs are entitled to share. Under fundamental principles of contract interpretation, the failure to identify the foreign tax credit benefit indicates that such benefit was not envisioned by the parties to be an intended term in any of the subject contracts.'

Screenplays/Copyright Ownership

Screenplay treatment writers weren't entitled to reclaim the copyright from a work-for-hire agreement they signed, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has decided. Morris v. Castle Rock Entertainment Inc., 01-9709 (Feb. 19). In 1980, Kyle Morris and William Richert wrote a screenplay treatment titled 'The President Elopes' under work-for-hire agreement with Richert International Corp. (RIC). The film rights were sold to several studios over several years until in 1992, Castle Rock Entertainment, through director Rob Reiner, agreed to be involved in producing the movie and hired Aaron Sorkin to write a new screenplay. In 1995, the Writers Guild of America, West, awarded Sorkin sole writer's credit on the film, now titled 'The American President.' Sorkin also later created and produced the TV series 'The West Wing' about life in the White House. Morris and Richert filed suit alleging that both 'The American President' and 'The West Wing' infringed on the copyright for 'The President Elopes.' To proceed with the suit, the plaintiffs argued that they should reclaim the copyright in 'The President Elopes' because they had not been paid an upward adjustment as required by their writers' agreement. Dismissing the suit, the district court noted, ” most courts that have considered the issue have rejected the notion that the creator of a work for hire may reclaim the copyright in his work once there has been a breach of the work for hire agreement by the commissioning party …. Even if such a termination [breach] of the Contract occurred, the Contract explicitly stated that such termination would not affect ' ownership of the rights with respect to the work produced by the Plaintiffs. In addition, the Contract contained no explicit rescission clauses that would allow the Plaintiffs to reclaim their copyright.'

Television/Sports

The Minnesota Twins secured an acceptable stadium through the term of the baseball team's telecast agreement, including option years, with Fox Sports to entitle the team to bonus payments under the broadcast deal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has decided. Fox Sports Net North LLC v. Minnesota Twins Partnership, 02-3043 (Feb. 10). Under the agreement, Fox Sports had the right to televise Twins games from 1998 through 2001. An option clause allowed Fox Sports to extend the contract for two additional seasons if, by the end of the 2001 season, the Twins were able to “secure an acceptable stadium solution, excluding a new stadium.” Doing so would entitle the Twins to bonus payments of 25% of the annual license fees for each subsequent year. In 1998, the Twins signed a lease agreement with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission obligating the team to continue playing home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis through the 2000 season, with three one-year option clauses that the Twins could exercise to use the Metrodome through the 2003 season. Fox Sports claimed, however, that the Twins had not obligated itself to play in the stadium through 2003 because the one-year option clauses hadn't yet been exercised. The appeals court noted, 'Fox suggests that the Twins secured an acceptable stadium solution sufficient to entitle it to televise Twins games in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but that no acceptable stadium solution existed that would have triggered the Twins' right to bonus payments. We decline Fox's invitation to define 'acceptable stadium solution' differently for different sections of the contract.'

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