O'Neill v. General Film Co.

171 A.D. 854, 157 N.Y.S. 1028, 1916 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5372
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 17, 1916·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

Laughlin, J.:

The plaintiff, claiming to own the literary rights as well as the performing rights in a dramatization of Alexander Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo,” by Charles Fechter, brought this suit in equity to enjoin the defendant from producing or exhibiting, or distributing for production and exhibition on the stage or in any theatre or place of amusement, any motion picture films containing in whole or in part any of the scenes, incidents, plot or story of said novel as so dramatized, or any simulated or colorable imitation or adaptation thereof.

Dumas’ novel was published in 1845. He wrote a dramatization thereof in French in 1848. There was a dramatization prior to 1870 in English known as the ‘ ‘ French-Lacy Dramatization.” Charles Fechter, a Frenchman, -wrote another English dramatization of the novel for Benjamin Webster, who was a celebrated actor and the manager of the Adelphi Theatre, London, Eng., and it was publicly performed at that theatre on or about the 19th of October, 1868, Webster playing the role of Noirtier, which was written expressly for him, and Fechter the role of Edmond Dantes, who becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. As a condition precedent to the issuance of a license to present the play, under the English statute regulating theatres (6 & 7 Viet. chap. 68, § 12), a printed copy of this dramatization by Fechter was filed with the Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty’s Household on the 17th day of October, 1868, and such a license was duly issued. The London newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, gave extended accounts of the play as thus presented. According to the testimony of the plaintiff, Fechter thereafter came to the United States and appeared in the presentation of the play in the same role in various theatres in this country from 1873 until his death in [857]*8571879, and “ produced it from the manuscript in his possession.” The plaintiff also testified that in the year 1883 he was employed by John Stetson, who owned the Globe Theatre in Boston, Mass., to appear in the title role in the presentation of “Monte Cristo ” in New York city, and that in the month of June, 1885, he purchased from Stetson for the consideration of $2,000 all of the right, title and interest of the latter in the Fechter version of the Count of Monte Cristo, which Stetson claimed to have purchased from Arthur Cheney, and received from Stetson a bill of sale thereof and the typewritten manuscript, the title page of which is as follows:

“Monte Cristo
Arranged and Adapted Expressly for Arthur Cheney, Esq.;
Proprietor and Manager of the GLOBE THEATRE, BOSTON, MASS.
-by-
CHARLES FECHTER, ESQUIRE Under the Stage Direction of Arthur Le Clercy.
First Representation -at-
GLOBE THEATRE, BOSTON, MASS.
-on-
Monday Evening, Sept. 12th, 1870
-and-
Now the Property of MR. JOHN STETSON
-of the-
FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, NEW YORE -and the-
GLOBE THEATRE, BOSTON, MASS.
Who Has the Sole and Exclusive Right of Production for the UNITED STATES AND CANADAS”

It appears by a comparison of this manuscript with the printed play filed with the Lord Chamberlain in London as [858] aforesaid, that the play as originally written by Fechter had been abridged by the elimination of many parts for the purpose of shortening the production, but otherwise they are the same. The recitals on the title page of the plaintiff’s manuscript of the play constitute the only evidence of the authorship thereof. The plaintiff testified that Fechter appeared in the play at the Globe Theatre in Boston, of which Arthur Cheney was one of the proprietors, and that Cheney died prior to 1883.

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O'Neill v. General Film Co., 171 A.D. 854, 157 N.Y.S. 1028, 1916 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5372 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1916).

171 A.D. 854 (O'Neill v. General Film Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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