Cameo Clips

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan took the unusual step in a copyright infringement case of using a non-traditional list of similarities to find there was no substantial similarity between the plaintiff's novels and the defendants' TV series. Davis v. American Broadcasting Cos. Inc., 1:10-CV-167. Plaintiff David Davis wrote two mystery books as David Walks-As-Bear that featured the Native American protagonist Ely Stone, a “modern-day warrior and protector.” The Ely Stone TV series was a comedy-drama about an eighth-year associate at a law firm. In comparing the novels with the TV show, District Judge Robert J. Jonker considered Davis's claim that both Stone characters experienced “visions,” were reluctant heroes, had spiritual advisors, were romantically involved with women named Maggie, and that both the novels and the series had side characters with similar names. Judge Jonker observed: “Although courts have cautioned against considering lists of similarities between works to determine whether the works are substantially similar because such lists 'are inherently subjective and unreliable' and tend to 'emphasize [ ] random similarities scattered throughout the works,' [quoting Litchfield v. Spielberg, 736 F.2d 1352, 1356 (9th Cir. 1984)] such a list is valuable here because it serves to demonstrate the dearth of similarities, even random and scattered similarities, between the works at issue here.”

Concluding on a more traditional copyright-comparison note, the district court found in dismissing Davis's suit: “The books and the show are completely different in almost every imaginable way, including the sequences of events, mood, dialogue, characters, plot, pace, setting, and themes. There is no overlap between the original components of the works, and any similarities between them are either unprotectible or not substantial. Reasonable minds could not differ on this issue.”