Land v. Jerry Lewis Productions, Inc.
California Superior Court
140 U.S.P.Q. 351 (1964)
- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Land (plaintiff) met Jerry Lewis (defendant), a prominent motion picture producer, at a soda fountain. Land told Lewis that she had written a script with him in mind and asked Lewis to consider it. According to Land, Lewis sat down beside her, and conversation ensued in which Land outlined the ideas of her script entitled “Treat Me Beat” and obtained a promise from Lewis to read it. Two days later, Land notified Lewis that she was planning to mail her script to him the following week. In response, Land received a letter from Lewis enclosing a release form for her to sign and return with the script. Land promptly submitted the signed release form and script to Lewis. A month later, the script was returned to Land with regrets. After Lewis’s release of the movie The Nutty Professor, Land filed suit for breach of implied-in-fact contract. Lewis moved for summary judgment on the ground that the release was a complete bar to any claim for breach of contract to pay for ideas disclosed to Lewis.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fleming, J.)
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