Legal Opinion
Lynn M. Thomson v. Allan S. Larson, Nanette Larson, and Julie Larson McCollum
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Decided June 19, 1998No. Docket 97-9085PublishedCited by 80 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
CALABRESI, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiff-appellant Lynn Thomson claims that, along with principal playwright Jonathan Larson, 1 she co-authored a “new version” of the critically acclaimed Broadway musical Rent. Since Thomson and Larson did not specify their respective rights by contract, this case raises two issues: (1) whether Rent qualifies as a statutory “joint work,” coauthored by Thomson; and (2) whether, even if Thomson is not deemed a co-author, she automatically retains exclusive copyright interests in the material she contributed to the work. The first question is squarely answered by the…
2Cases cited20 opinions
- Anderson v. City of Bessemer CitySupreme Court of the United States · 1985
- Community for Creative Non-Violence v. ReidSupreme Court of the United States · 1989
- Terry Gilliam, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Appellees v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Defendant-Appellee-AppellantCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1976
- Heidi S. Weissmann, M.D., Cross-Appellee v. Leonard M. Freeman, M.D., Cross-AppellantCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1989
- Karen L. Erickson v. Trinity Theatre, Inc., Individually and D/B/A Trinity Square EnsembleCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 1994
15 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by80 opinions
- Martha Kinstler v. First Reliance Standard Life Insurance CompanyCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit · 1999
- The Morningside Group Limited v. Morningside Capital Group, L.L.C.Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1999
- Davis v. BligeCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2007
- Neil Gaiman and Marvels and Miracles, Llc, Plaintiffs-Appellees/cross-Appellants v. Todd McFarlane Defendants-Appellants/cross-AppelleesCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2004
- 16 Casa Duse, LLC v. MerkinCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2015
75 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.