Sony is no stranger to copyright law, but this time it is the defendant. The problem is that Sony distributed Woody Allen’s film, Midnight in Paris; and in the film the hero Gil Pender says, “The past is not dead! Actually, it's not even past.” This is a misquote from the Faulkner book 'Requiem for a Nun’, where the correct quote reads, “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” And Faulkner Literary Rights has taken exception, launching an action in Oxford, Miss., claiming “Sony's actions in distributing the Infringing Film were malicious, fraudulent, deliberate and/or willful.” It is this that prompted Courthouse News to comment, with apologies to Dickens, “This is a far, far weirder thing than Sony has ever done.”
Sony is claiming ‘fair use’. “This is a frivolous lawsuit and we are confident we will prevail in defending it,” it said in a written statement.
The problem is, the Faulkner Estate hasn’t finished – and a worry is that it has only just started. On the very next day it launched a second action, this time in Jackson, Miss, against Northrop Grumman and The Washington Post for an advert that included the statement: "We must be free, not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. William Faulkner." This quote comes from the Faulkner essay for Harper's Magazine, "On Fear: The South in Labor.”
"Neither Northrop nor the Post sought or received Faulkner's permission before creating and publishing the infringing advertisement in The Washington Post,” claims Faulkner Literary Rights. It wants punitive damages, disgorgement of profits and costs for copyright and trademark violations.
“Northrop Grumman declined comment,” reported The Washington Post. “The Washington Post did not return a phone call Monday,” it continued.
“David Olson, a Boston College law professor who specializes in patent law and copyright, said he agrees that the estate is over-reaching legally,” writes the Post. A Faulkner Literary Rights lawyer disagrees. “If it’s for a commercial use, they do have to pay for it,” said Lee Caplin.
| The outcome of these cases is far from clear. But what if Faulkner Literary Rights prevails and sets a new precedent? The thought of copyright troll bots crawling the blogosphere looking for ten-word snippets matching a database of copyrighted quotations is scary indeed. |