Cameo Clips

The issue of whether a TV programming license was properly terminated is to be decided by a state, rather than a federal, court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided. Scholastic Entertainment Inc. v. Fox Entertainment Group Inc., 02-55667. Scholastic had agreed to license the exhibition and distribution rights to its “Goosebumps” series to Fox Children's Network for 15 years. Scholastic sued Fox in California state court after learning that “Goosebumps” was being aired on the Fox Family Channel. (Fox Broadcasting claimed that it was an exhibition, rather than a distribution for which Scholastic would be paid additional licensing fees.) During discovery, Scholastic found out that Fox had granted the Fox Family Channel an irrevocable license to air “Goosebumps.” Scholastic then sent Fox a letter of termination and filed suit in federal court. The district court ruled that the issue of whether the contract had been terminated was one for state court. (Scholastic did not appeal this ruling.) But the district court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Fox on the network's counterclaim that its agreement with Scholastic was still in effect, before later sua sponte (ie, on the court's own accord) dismissing Fox's counterclaims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Affirming, the appeals court noted, “Because Scholastic has stipulated that it will not relicense the Goosebumps series until a determination is made as to the status of the agreement, however, Scholastic cannot be guilty of copyright infringement. Therefore, this case hinges entirely on whether Scholastic's attempt to terminate the agreement was successful. … Scholastic's success in terminating the agreement is a pure question of state contract law appropriate for adjudication in the California courts.” (The Los Angeles Superior Court ruled in June that the licensing agreement didn't limit exhibitions to Fox Children's Network. Scholastic Entertainment Inc. v. Fox Entertainment Group, BC247349.)

Right of Publicity/First Amendment