Copyright and First Amendment Law After 'The Wind Done Gone'
Mondaq Business Briefing › United States Law Articles in English (2002)
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Copyright and First Amendment Law After 'The Wind Done Gone'
Recent litigation between the owner of copyrights in the book and movie Gone With the Wind and the publisher and author of The Wind Done Gone has surfaced a number of important U.S. copyright law and First Amendment issues for which there was little precedent. Among them are the following:
the potential conflict between the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 et. seq., with its provision for a preliminary injunction restraining distribution of an infringing literary work, and the First Amendment, which forbids laws restraining "speech," traditionally defined to include literary works;the meaning of the "transformative use" defense to copyright infringement in a case involving literary works; andwhether the "parody" defense, previously applied only in music and photography cases, extends to the use of an entire novel and motion picture.The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has now provided some guidance with respect to these issues. See SunTrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin, 252 F.3d 1165 (11th Cir. 2001) (vacating an injunction barring publication of The Wind Done Gone as a prior restraint of speech in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution); and SunTrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin, 60 U.S.P.Q.2d 1225 (11th Cir. 2001)...See the full content of this document
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This document cites
- U.S. Code - Title 17: Copyrights - 17 USC 107 - Sec. 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
- U.S. Supreme Court - Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit - Suntrust Bank, as Trustee of the Stephens Mitchell Trusts F.B.O. Eugene Muse Mitchell and Joseph Reynolds Mitchell, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Houghton Mifflin Company, Defendant-Appellant., 252 F.3d 1165 (11th Cir. 2001)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - Elsmere Music, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. National Broadcasting Company, Defendant-Appellee., 623 F.2d 252 (2nd Cir. 1980)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit - Jerry Greenberg, Idaz Greenberg, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. National Geographic Society, a District of Columbia Corporation, National Geographic Enterprises, Inc., a Corporation, Mindscape, Inc., a California Corporation, Defendants-Appellees., 244 F.3d 1267 (11th Cir. 2001)
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