Legal Opinion
Estate of Hemingway v. Random House, Inc.
New York Court of Appeals
Decided December 12, 1968PublishedCited by 59 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
Chief Judge Funo.
On this appeal—involving an action brought by the estate of the late Ernest Hemingway and his widow against the publisher and author of a book, entitled ‘ ‘ Papa Hemingway ’ ’ — we are called upon to decide, primarily, whether conversations of a gifted and highly regarded writer may become the subject of common-law copyright, even though the speaker himself has not reduced his words to writing.
Hemingway died in 1961. During the last 13 years of his life, a close friendship existed between him and A.E. Hotchner, a younger and far less well-known writer. Hotchner, who met…
2Cases cited19 opinions
- Curtis Publishing Co. v. ButtsSupreme Court of the United States · 1967
- Meinhard v. SalmonNew York Court of Appeals · 1928
- Time, Inc. v. HillSupreme Court of the United States · 1967
- Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1964
- Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc.Supreme Court of the United States · 1964
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3Cited by59 opinions
- Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation EnterprisesSupreme Court of the United States · 1985
- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities CommissionSupreme Court of the United States · 1986
- Bartnicki v. VopperSupreme Court of the United States · 2001
- Ginger Rogers v. Alberto Grimaldi, Mgm/ua Entertainment Co., and Pea Produzioni Europee Associate, S.R.L.Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1989
- Norman Birnbaum, B. Leonard Avery and Mary Rule MacMillen Plaintiffs v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1978
54 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.