Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
T

Toho Co. v. William Morrow and Co.

33 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (1998)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Toho Co. v. William Morrow and Co.

United States District Court for the Central District of California
33 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (1998)

SH

Facts

Toho Co. (plaintiff) created the fictional character Godzilla, a giant prehistoric monster brought to life in the modern world. Toho produced and distributed throughout the world a series of motion pictures based on the Godzilla character and, as a result of its success, licensed others to use the Godzilla character for various merchandising activities. When Tri-Star Pictures agreed to produce another motion picture based on the Godzilla character, Toho licensed to Random House, Inc. the exclusive right to publish a compendium book of the Godzilla films entitled The Official Godzilla Compendium. Toho brought trademark and unfair competition claims against William Morrow and Co. (defendant) after it discovered that William Morrow planned to publish its own compendium book entitled Godzilla! the cover of which featured an illustration of the Godzilla character and title written in the same distinctive lettering as that used by Toho and its licensees. Morrow asserted the nominative-fair-use defense.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Tevrizian, 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 834,000 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 834,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 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 834,000 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
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 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

Casebooks

Copyright Law

Key Terms