Norman v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.

333 F. Supp. 788, 172 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 7, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11066
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 27, 1971
Docket66 Civ. 705
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 333 F. Supp. 788 (Norman v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.) 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
Norman v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 333 F. Supp. 788, 172 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 7, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11066 (S.D.N.Y. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION, FINDINGS OF FACT and CONCLUSIONS OF LAW.

LEVET, District Judge.

This action was brought by plaintiff, Charles Norman (“Norman”), against defendants Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (“CBS”) and Stephan Chodorov (“Chodorov”) for alleged copyright infringement of Norman’s biography entitled, “Ezra Pound,” by a television show entitled, “In Search of Ezra Pound,” broadcast in February and March 1966 in three parts over facilities owned by or affiliated with CBS.

Ezra Pound, a well-known American poet, was a public figure, as conceded by plaintiff.

The defendants arranged and at trial demonstrated visually and audibly the program produced by CBS alleged to infringe plaintiff’s biography.

The parties agreed that the script of the program insofar as plaintiff contended there were infringements by defendants was set forth in Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3A; that the portions of plaintiff’s book thereby infringed were likewise quoted in Exhibit 3A, in parallel columns. The alleged infringing portions are in the first column while the infringed areas of the book are in the second column of this exhibit. Originally there were 148 items of alleged infringement. During the trial items 70, 80, 104, 123, 124 and 125 of the charge, Exhibit 3A, were withdrawn (SM 59, 281-282)- 1 Plaintiff makes no claim of *790 infringement or other violation against Part III of defendants’ program (59).

In the course of the presentation of plaintiff’s case the court, upon motion of defendants, dismissed all of such claims except items 10, 19, 25, 28, 30, 33, 52, 64, 65, 78, 126, 127, 128 and 138. These dismissals were for various reasons, all clearly appearing in the record. Among these reasons were the following:

1. That plaintiff had himself obtained the material from other authorities.

2. That certain “items” were merely copied from Pound's poems.

3. That the items involved were in the public domain.

4. That the material related to a public figure and that the book was a biography. (See Rosemont Enterprises, Inc. v. Random House, Inc., 366 F.2d 302 (2nd Cir. 1966))

5. In a few other instances the alleged infringement was merely a fair use.

The case was tried to the court, and, pursuant to Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the question of damages was reserved.

After hearing the testimony of the parties, examining the exhibits, pleadings and Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and post-trial memoranda submitted by counsel, this court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The court has jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the defendants CBS and Chodorov.

2. Plaintiff is the author of the allegedly infringed biography, “Ezra Pound,” first published in 1960. This biography is the life of the renowned poet, Ezra Pound, and so-called polemicist, admittedly a public figure (22-23, 61, 101-102; Pl.Exs. 4, 5, 6).

3. The Register of Copyrights issued to plaintiff a certificate of registration of a claim to copyright of the book “Ezra Pound,” dated November 1, 1960, on Form A, Class A, registration No. 477602 (5; Pl.Ex. 2).

4. Defendant CBS is the corporate producer and owner of a television program entitled, “In Search of Ezra Pound,” which was transmitted in three parts over the facilities of the CBS Television Network and simultaneously and otherwise broadcast by certain television stations during February and March 1966 (SM 3).

5. Defendants’ program was transmitted and broadcast on a sustaining basis; that is, without commercial sponsorship and without any payment to CBS by the local television stations which broadcast it (4-5, 152).

6. The script for defendants’ program was written by defendant Chodorov in the course of his duties as an employee of CBS (5).

7. Part I of the television program was first telecast on February 20, 1966. Part I was telecast again and Part II was telecast for the first time on February 27, 1966. Part III was telecast on March 6, 1966 (3). There is no claim of infringement as to Part III.

8. Plaintiff’s book is intended to be historically and factually accurate and contains nothing which is knowingly fictional or inaccurate (101, 102).

9. The format or continuity of plaintiff’s biography of Ezra Pound is chronological, with the execption that the story of Pound’s life to his 16th year is related by plaintiff at the point where the poet himself wrote a memoir covering that first period (105-108).

10. Defendant Chodorov worked on the script for defendants’ Ezra Pound program continuously from September 1965 to February 1966 with little time devoted to anything else. He did not see plaintiff’s book until early January 1966 and he never read it in its entirety (525, 656-659, 518-520, 516-517).

11. As early as about 1954, while in college at Haverford, Chodorov began an interest in Ezra Pound and his works and *791 between that time and the production of the telecast, “In Search of Ezra Pound,” he acquired an extensive number of books by and about Pound which he utilized in the creation of the script (500-506, 524-543; Deft.Exs. AA-QQ).

12. In the course of his work on defendants’ program, Chodorov acquired and consulted many books in addition to those which he already owned, he assembled a large collection of clippings and shorter pieces of pertinent periodical literature from which he also drew material; he did considerable work collecting materials at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue; and he consulted various individuals with special knowledge of Pound who provided advice, information and materials, including a previously unpublished memoir of Pound by the poetess H.D. (544-563; Deft. Exs. YV-CCC, EEE-GGG, III-MMM; 577-590; Deft.Ex. WWW; 569-575; Deft.Exs. RRR, SSS, TTT, UUU; 563-569; Deft.Ex. G; Deft.Exs. NNN-QQQ; 597; Deft.Ex. YYY; 576-577). The foregoing constituted basic and independent research.

13. Plaintiff’s claim of copyright infringement óf his book, “Ezra Pound,” by defendants’ three-part television program, “In Search of Ezra Pound,” is set forth in a parallel chart containing 148 separate items of alleged copying. References in these Findings to numbered “items” or to the “chart” are to the corrected chart, Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3A (62, 64, 90, 224; Pl.Ex. 3A).

14. Item 10 of Exhibit 3A was as follows:

#10. Page 8 (Top) 2

#10a. Facing Page 14

Photograph of HOUSE IN HAILEY.

Upper photograph same shown in televised program.

I find that plaintiff obtained the photograph of the Hailey, Idaho home of Pound from a public official of Blain County, Idaho and had no exclusive rights to the use of the photograph (115-121; Deft. Ex.

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Bluebook (online)
333 F. Supp. 788, 172 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 7, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11066, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/norman-v-columbia-broadcasting-system-inc-nysd-1971.