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Benay v. Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
607 F.3d 620 (2010)
Facts
Aaron Benay and Matthew Benay (plaintiffs) authored a screenplay titled The Last Samurai (the screenplay) and registered their copyright for the screenplay. Later, on December 5, 2003, a film titled The Last Samurai (the film) was released. Two years later, the Benays sued Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc. and others (collectively, WB) (defendants) in a federal district court for copyright infringement, asserting that important aspects of the film had been copied from the screenplay. WB contended that it had developed the film independently of the screenplay. Although WB did not challenge the Benays’ copyright validity, WB moved for summary judgment of noninfringement. The district court conducted an extrinsic-test analysis evaluating the similarities between the screenplay and the film in terms of the plots and sequences of events, characters, themes, settings, mood, pacing, and dialogue. The district court concluded that the most significant similarities involved unprotectable elements. For instance, although both plots included an 1870s samurai uprising in Japan, such an uprising actually did occur in Japan, making that similarity based on historical fact, which copyright law does not protect. The district court granted WB’s summary-judgment motion. The Benays appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, J.)
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