Copyright infringement of a Single Line

I've written in this blog about fair use of copyrighted material and whether an ad lib or a single line can be copyright protected. A recent ruling about a movie's use of a single line from a famous author's novel/play is of interest

There is a fair use provision in the copyright law. Much to the frustration of ,both copyright holders and those who want to use copyrighted material, the law does not describe what is or is not protected by fair use but instead provides the court with various factors to consider: the purpose of the use, the purpose of the copyrighted material, the amount of the material to be used, and the effect of the use on the market for the copyrighted material.

Copyright law protects works of authorship. I previously told the story of how the dramaturg for the musical Rent sued the author's estate, claiming that she had contributed 20% of the musical and was therefore the joint owner of the copyright. The court ruled that for there to be a joint copyright there must have been an agreement between rthe authors to that effect. The court found no such agreement for the copyright of Rent. After this ruling, the dramaturg announced that she intended to file litigation to assert her ownership for each line that she claimed she wrote. Rather than litigated the ownership of every line, the author's estate settled with the dramaturg for what was reported to be a modest amount. Whether a single line constitutes a work of authorship was consequently not established.

In a case that was decided July 18, the estate of the novelist William Faulkner sued Sony Pictures over Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a movie about a writer who travels back and forth between the past and the present. In that movie, Owen Wilson says that William Faulkner wrote, "The past is not dead. Actually, it's not even past." He credits the statement to Faulkner in the movie. The Faulkner estate argued that the use was unauthorized and therefore was copyright infringement.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi granted Sony's motion to dismiss. Judge Michael P. Mills addressed the situation from a fair use perspective. I have written before that if your use is educational or news reporting you're half way home to fair use. Here, the use was clearly commercial: a motion picture designed to make money. But the other factors weighed strongly in Sony's favor.

Judge Mills wrote, "It should go without saying that the quote at issue is of miniscule qualitative importance to the work as a whole. Thus the court considers both the qualitative and quantitative analysis to tip in favor of fair use."

Mills also wrote that he did not understand why Hollywood's literary allusion to Faulkner did not result in celebration rather than a lawsuit. He suggested that the quote could actually enhance the market value of Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun, from which the quote was taken.

The ruling was a victory for fair use of a single line. The court did not consider whether a single line merits copyright protection. Nor did the court deal with the use of a line by a famous author that is so widely quoted that it is almost iconic.

Faulkner also said in his 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, "I believe that man will not merely survive: he will endure." Lillian Hellman said before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1952, "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashion." Will and should a credited allusion to such statements result in an infringement suit?

The court addressed only the length and market aspect of such a situation and dismissed the action, finding such use is fair.

Copyright 2013 by John T. Aquino. This article does not constitute a legal opinion and is intended for educational purposes only.