Baxter v. MCA, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
812 F.2d 421 (1987)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
Leslie Baxter (plaintiff) composed a collection of songs meant to represent certain emotions. One of the songs recorded was entitled “Joy.” John Williams (defendant) was a successful music composer and conductor who was Baxter’s acquaintance. Williams was familiar with “Joy” and had even played piano during a public performance of the song. Years later, Williams composed the song “Theme” for the film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Williams won the Academy Award for Best Original Music. Baxter filed suit for copyright infringement, alleging that “Theme” was largely copied from his copyrighted song “Joy.” Williams filed a motion for summary judgment, attaching a cassette tape of the songs, the sheet music for the songs, and the testimony of a music expert who explained the degree of similarity between the two compositions. The district court granted Williams’s motion for summary judgment, holding that, based on the court’s ear, substantial similarity of expression was totally lacking and could not be submitted to a jury. Baxter appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Tang, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.