Stewart v. Abend

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Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207 (1990), was an important United States Supreme Court decision which held that a copyright owner has the exclusive right to permit the creation and exploitation of derivative works, irrespective of potentially conflicting agreements by prior copyright holders.

Facts

Cornell Woolrich originally wrote the short story "It Had to Be Murder", selling the publication rights to Popular Publications, Inc., which published the story in its Dime Detective Magazine in 1942. Three years later, Woolrich sold the movie rights to the story to a production company, also agreeing by contract that he would renew those rights when the 28-year copyright then in force expired. In 1953 those movie rights were bought for $10,000 by Patron Inc., a production company formed by actor James Stewart and director Alfred Hitchcock. The short story was then made into the acclaimed movie Rear Window (1954), directed by Hitchcock and starring Stewart.

Woolrich died in 1968, before the expiration of his 28-year copyright, and control of the literary rights passed to his executor, Chase Manhattan Bank. Chase sold the movie rights for $650 to literary agent Sheldon Abend. Abend refused to honor Woolrich's original agreement to renew the copyright and assign it to the owner of the movie rights, and instead sued Stewart when the movie was shown on television.

Issue

The question presented is whether the owner of the derivative work infringed the rights of the successor copyright owner, by continued distribution and publication of a derivative work during the renewal term of the pre-existing work.

Rule

Control of the work snaps back to the author -- or author’s successors -- when renewal comes up. This protects the author (and heirs) from being deprived of the surprising value of the work.

Result

The assignment was an unfulfilled contingency that died with the author; the successor can prevent continued use of the derivative work.

External links

495 U.S. 207 Full text of the opinion courtesy of Findlaw.com.