Grant v. Kellogg Co.

58 F. Supp. 48, 63 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 173, 1944 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1658
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 2, 1944
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 58 F. Supp. 48 (Grant v. Kellogg Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Kellogg Co., 58 F. Supp. 48, 63 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 173, 1944 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1658 (S.D.N.Y. 1944).

Opinion

BRIGHT, District Judge.

Plaintiff, by a complaint alleging three causes of action, seeks recovery of substantial damages for an alleged breach of two contracts, one made in November, 1932, which is the subject of the first cause of action, and the other made in June, 1938, the subject of the second and third causes. The terms of both contracts are in dispute.

The contract of November, 1932, was made orally with the defendant through its advertising agency N. W. Ayer & Son, Inc. The answer admits the making of a contract between it and plaintiff at that time. The complaint alleges that by its terms defendant agreed: (a) at its option to purchase from plaintiff paintings, drawings and sketches of his creations of gnomes and other creatures, solely for use in making reproductions of them as drawn in its advertising material to be circulated in the sales promotion of Rice Krispies; (b) to pay for each separate creation purchased at a price dependent on the value to the advertising material for which it was ordered, and in any event, at a price consonant with sound advertising practice; -(c) to confine its use of each creation to the Rice Krispies advertising material for which it was ordered, and not to use it for any other purpose or in any extended manner except with permission of and upon terms agreeable to plaintiff; (d) that plaintiff would retain all of his artistic and property rights, present, past and future, in his creations so purchased; (e) defendant would not pirate or simulate plaintiff’s creations and would not use in its Rice Kris-pies advertising copies or imitations made by any other artist or others; (f) if at any time it did not use plaintiff’s art work in its advertising, it would thereupon discontinue the use of creations of gnome and gnomelike creatures and all other Grant creations in Rice Krispies advertising, and would thereafter advertise such product from an entirely different angle of approach, and open completely the commercial advertising field to plaintiff for the sale of his creations for all advertising purposes. And plaintiff agreed: (g) to give defendant exclusive use of his creations in all commercial advertising for one year from the date of their first release, except that he reserved the right to sell any of his creations at any time to any person for use as magazine cover designs, illustrations, “spots” or in any non-advertising manner; (h) would not, so long as the contract remained in force, enter into any contract with any competitor of defendant for use of his creations used by defendant in advertising; (i) to make all paintings, drawings and sketches of his creations for Rice Krispies advertising as ordered by defendant or its agents; and (j) to use his best efforts, artistic skill and creative genius in the preparation of his art work.

Plaintiff, concededly a fine commercial artist, whose particular sphere seems to be *50 the drawing or painting of fantastic figures or animals and the depicting of gnomes, gnomelike creatures, fairy folk, Mother Goose, and other characters, particularly delightful to children, obviously worked to the satisfaction of the defendant for at least six years, from 1932 to 1938, during which time defendant purchased from him much art work used by it in its promotional and space advertising of its cereal known as Rice Krispies. During the first six years of the relations between the parties, the space advertising of this cereal was conducted for the defendant by N. W. Ayer & Son. In November, 1938, defendant changed its advertising agency to J. Walter Thompson Company, and after that change, plaintiff continued to sell some of his art work for Rice Krispies advertising, but for some reason or reasons, about which there is dispute, the relations between the parties were not so smooth and ended in about May, 1942, after which this suit followed.

The contract pleaded clearly was not proven. Whatever was agreed upon admittedly was consummated in November, 1932, and it is not disputed that it was to continue but for one year, during which period defendant was entitled to plaintiff’s services exclusively insofar as advertising was concerned. There is no proof that it was renewed or extended. Plaintiff contends, however, that what was then agreed upon applied to whatever subsequent dealings he had with the defendant. In the absence of proof as to its agreed continuation, it is doubtful whether the court can indulge in any such assumption. Jones v. Mencik, 3 Cir., 286 F. 890, 892. This would seem all the more so in this case, because there is undisputed evidence of subsequent and other transactions of an independent nature with respect to other art work prepared by plaintiff. It would seem more probable that the future, after the 1933 advertising campaign, was to be left to take care of itself, and that whatever thereafter transpired were separate transactions of purchases and sales involving the art work thereafter ordered and delivered.

However that may be, it was stated by plaintiff’s counsel in summation that the contract alleged and “boiled down” was, that Kellogg was to buy at its option, Grant was to do the work and to exercise his best artistic skill, Kellogg was not to copy his work, and was to pay him if it extended the use of his work.

It is clear from the evidence, and I so find, that the contra'ct was made by the advertising agency for the defendant, that it was to run during the defendant’s 1933 advertising and promotion campaign, that under it defendant had the right to purchase from plaintiff such paintings, drawings and sketches of gnomes, other creatures, and settings as it might desire for use in its advertising of Rice Krispies, that it was to pay for such art work a price agreed upon between the parties, usually dependent upon the use to which the particular art work was then to be put; and that plaintiff agreed to use his best efforts, artistic skill and creative genius in the preparation of such art work, to give to defendant the exclusive right to use the same in its commercial advertising of Rice Krispies during the year mentioned, and would not sell his art work for advertising purposes to any competitor of defendant but would be free to sell any of it at any time to any person for use as magazine covers, designs, illustrations, “spots”, or in any other non-advertising manner. It was further agreed that after the termination of the 1933 campaign plaintiff would be free to engage in the sale and production of whatever art work he might see fit, except that if he sold it to any competitor of defendant he could not expect to do so to defendant.

The proof shows that after 1933 plaintiff sold to other advertisers many of his paintings, drawings and sketches during the period of his relations with defendant.

There is no dispute that the question of title to the art work purchased and sold was never expressly discussed between the parties at the time the contract was made, or at any other time until after the change was made in the advertising agency from Ayer to Thompson in 1938. So far as the evidence shows, there was no express reservation of any title on the part of the plaintiff. Whatever implications may have arisen as a matter of law are disputed. Such evidence as there is in that respect is contained in the writings. The purchase orders from Kellogg to plaintiff and the invoices submitted by plaintiff for the art work prior to 1939 contain no statements upon the subject; they are what one would usually expect in an ordinary sale and purchase. It is clear that plaintiff was informed that the defendant preferred to own the art work out-right.

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Bluebook (online)
58 F. Supp. 48, 63 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 173, 1944 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-kellogg-co-nysd-1944.