Bartsch v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
391 F.2d 150 (1968)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
The authors, composers, publishers, and owners of a German musical play, known as Maytime in English, assigned all motion-picture rights—including the right to visually or audibly project or transmit the musical and exhibit it worldwide—to Hans Bartsch in 1930. Hans assigned these rights to Warner Brothers Pictures, which in turn transferred them to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (MGM) (defendant). MGM made a successful film version. The authors of the original musical assigned all remaining copyright interests and renewal rights to Hans in 1935 and 1938. When Hans died, his rights in Maytime passed to his widow, Irene Bartsch. MGM began licensing the movie for television broadcast in 1958. Irene brought a copyright-infringement action in federal district court, alleging that television broadcast fell within the scope of the 1935 and 1938 transfers. The court found that television rights were included in the earlier movie-rights transfer and ruled in favor of MGM. Irene appealed. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Friendly, J.)
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