Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. v. Miramax Films Corp.

11 F. Supp. 2d 1179 (1998)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. v. Miramax Films Corp.

United States District Court for the Central District of California
11 F. Supp. 2d 1179 (1998)

  • Written by Liz Nakamura, JD

Facts

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (Columbia) (plaintiff) distributed a promotional poster and trailer for its movie Men in Black (MIB). The MIB poster featured actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones wearing black suits, black ties, white shirts, and sunglasses, holding oversized weapons, and standing in front of the New York City skyline with serious expressions. The MIB trailer included the tagline “protecting the earth from the scum of the universe” and ended with Smith and Jones’s shadows superimposed over the letters “MIB.” Columbia copyrighted the MIB poster and the MIB trailer. MIB had a worldwide theatrical release, sold millions of VHS copies, and led to lucrative licensing agreements for Columbia. Miramax Films Corp. (Miramax) (defendant) then released its documentary film The Big One (TBO), which criticized corporate America. TBO had only a limited theatrical release. The promotional poster and trailer for TBO mimicked the MIB poster and trailer. The TBO poster showed the documentarian, Michael Moore, in a black suit, black tie, white shirt, and sunglasses, holding an oversized microphone and standing in front of the New York City skyline, smirking. The TBO trailer included the tagline “protecting the earth from the scum of corporate America” and ended with Moore’s shadow superimposed over the letters “TBO.” Columbia sued Miramax for copyright infringement and moved for a preliminary injunction. Miramax invoked the fair-use affirmative defense, arguing that the TBO poster and trailer were parodies of the MIB poster and trailer.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Collins, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 814,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership