Childress v. Taylor

945 F.2d 500 (2nd Cir. 1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D is an actress. After portraying 'Moms' Mabley in a skit in an off-off-Broadway production, D became interested in developing a play based on Mabley's life. D began to assemble material about 'Moms' Mabley, interviewing her friends and family, collecting her jokes, and reviewing library resources. In 1985, D contacted P, about writing a play based on 'Moms' Mabley. P was not interested. When D approached P again in 1986, P agreed, though she was reluctant due to the time constraints involved. D had interested the Green Plays Theatre in producing the as yet unwritten play, but the theatre had only one slot left on its summer 1986 schedule, and in order to use that slot, the play had to be written in six weeks. D turned over all of her research to P and later did further research at P's request. P wrote the play, entitled 'Moms: A Praise Play for a Black Comedienne.' D, in addition to providing the research material, which according to her involved a process of sifting through facts and selecting pivotal and key elements to include in a play on 'Moms' Mabley's life, also discussed with P the inclusion of certain general scenes and characters in the play. Additionally, they spoke on a regular basis about the progress of the play. D's major contributions to the play include: (1) she learned through interviews that 'Moms' Mabley called all of her piano players 'Luther,' so Taylor suggested that the play include such a character; (2) D and P together interviewed Carey Jordan, 'Moms' Mabley's housekeeper, and upon leaving the interview they came to the conclusion that she would be a good character for the play, but D could not recall whether she or P suggested it; (3) D informed P that 'Moms' Mabley made a weekly trip to Harlem to do ethnic food shopping; (4) D suggested a street scene in Harlem with speakers because she recalled having seen or listened to such a scene many times; (5) the idea of using a minstrel scene came out of D's research; (6) the idea of a card game scene also came out of D's research, although D could not recall who specifically suggested the scene; (7) some of the jokes used in the play came from D's research; and (8) the characteristics of 'Moms' Mabley's personality portrayed in the play emerged from D's research. D contributed facts and details about 'Mom' Mabley's life and discussed some of them with P. P was responsible for the actual structure of the play and the dialogue. P completed the play and filed for and received a copyright for the play in her name. D produced the play at the Green Plays Theatre and played the title role. After the play's run at the Green Plays Theatre, D planned a second production of the play at the Hudson Guild Theatre in New York City. At the time P agreed to the project, she did not have any firm arrangements with D, although D had paid her $2,500 before the play was produced. D's agent, Scott Yoselow, wrote to P's agent, Flora Roberts, stating negotiations: 1. D will pay P for her playwriting services on the MOMS MABLEY PROJECT the sum of $ 5,000.00, which will also serve as an advance against any future royalties. 2. The finished play shall be equally owned and be the property of both P and D. Flora Roberts responded: I have told P that we are using your letter as a partial memo preparatory to our future good faith negotiations for a contract. There are two points which I include herewith to complete your two points in the May 9th letter, i.e.: 1) The $5,000 advance against any future royalties being paid by D to P shall be paid as follows. Since $ 1,000 has already been paid, $ 1,500 upon your receipt of this letter and the final $ 2,500 to be paid upon submission of the First Draft, but in no event later than July 7, 1986. 2) It is to be understood that pending the proper warranty clauses to be included in the contract, P is claiming originality for her words only in said script. The parties attempted to formalize their agreement. P filed for and received a copyright for the new material added to the play produced at the Hudson Guild Theatre. In March 1987, P rejected the draft agreement. D decided to mount another production of the play without P. D hired Ben Caldwell to write another play featuring 'Moms' Mabley; D gave Caldwell a copy of the Childress script and advised him of elements that should be changed. P sued D. D claimed she was a joint author and P moved for summary judgment, which the District Court granted. The Court concluded that D was not a joint author and Caldwell's play was substantially similar to and infringed P's play. The judge ruled (a) that a work qualifies as a 'joint work' under the definition section of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101, only when both authors intended, at the time the work was created, 'that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole,' and (b) that there was insufficient evidence to permit a reasonable trier to find that P had the requisite intent. The Court ruled that copyright law requires the contributions of both authors to be independently copyrightable and that D's contributions, which consisted of ideas and research, were not copyrightable. D appealed.