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Suntrust Bank v Houghton Mifflin, Co.

Issue:
-Whether publication of The Wind Done Gone (TWDG), based on Gone With the Wind (GWTW), should be enjoined from publication based on alleged copyright violations

Procedural History:
-District Court granted preliminary injunction against TWDG because Suntrust met the 4 part test governing preliminary injunctions
-This Court vacates the District Court’s injunction

Facts:
-Suntrust holds the copyright to GWTW and in all of the derivative works
-Randall, the author of TWDG, claims her novel is a critique of GWTW’s depiction of slavery and Civil War era American South
-P claims that TWDG explicitly refers to GWTW in its forward; copies more characters, character traits, and relationships from GWTW; copies and summarizes famous scenes and other elements of the plot; and copies verbatim dialogues and descriptions from GWTW
-D argues there is no substantial similarity between the two works because the retelling of the story is an inversion of GWTW or in the alternative, that the doctrine of fair use protects TWDG because it is primarily a parody of GWTW
-Suntrust alleged copyright infringement, violation of the Lanham Act, deceptive trade practices, and filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction
-TWDG appropriates numerous characters from GWTW: TWDG renamed the characters using descriptions of those characters
-This Court agrees with the District Court that TWDG is still using the same copyrighted characters, settings, and plot

Analysis:
-D argues entitled to fair use defense because TWDG is a parody of GWTW
-Parody is a form of comment and criticism that may constitute a fair use of the copyrighted work being parodied: needs to mimic an original to make its point and so has some claim to use the creation of its victim’s imagination
-Court evaluates the 4 fair use factors
-Purpose and Character of the Work: TWDG is a commercial product, TWDG reflects transformative value because it can provide social benefit by shedding light on an earlier work (this factor weighs in favor of fair use)
-Nature of Copyrighted Work: this factor is given little weight in parody claims because almost invariably copying publicly known, expressive works
-Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used: the parody must be able to “conjure up” at least enough of the original to make the object of its critical wit recognizable
-Effect on the Market Value of the Original: concerned with substitution, P fails to address this and offers little evidence or argument to demonstrate that TWDG would supplant demand for the original (this factor weighs in favor of fair use)

Rule:
-Supplant Demand: necessary to show by a preponderance of the evidence that some meaningful likelihood of future harm exists and that the new work serves as a market substitute for the original

Conclusion/Holding:
-TWDG is entitled to fair use defense
-Randall’s book is unlikely to displace sales of GWTW


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Page last modified on Saturday 26 of April, 2008 15:40:23 GMT by KimMatras.
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