Filmvideo Releasing Corp. v. Hastings

OPINION

WERKER, District Judge.

Following a two-day bench trial and certain preliminary rulings, and pursuant to stipulation among the parties, this declaratory judgment action comes before the Court for decision on an issue of contractual interpretation arising out of two agreements, concluded in the 1930s, concerning the right to produce motion pictures based upon copyrighted “Hopalong Cassidy” stories. After careful consideration of all of the testimony and documentary evidence, it is the Court’s view that the question raised must be resolved in favor of the defendant and intervenors. The…