Legal Opinion
Comedy III Productions, Inc., a California Corp. v. New Line Cinema, a Delaware Amended Corp., Opinion
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Decided February 4, 2000No. 98-55301PublishedCited by 18 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:
We must decide whether a portion of a public domain film used in a motion picture is a trademark capable of protection under the Lanham Act.
I
In 1996, New Line Cinema (“New Line”) released the theatrical motion picture, The Long Kiss Goodnight, which contained a clip from The Three Stooges’ short film, Disorder in the Court. Pursuant to New Line’s request, the district court took judicial notice of the motion picture’s contents and found that the clip plays on a television set in the background of an interior scene for less than thirty seconds. Asserting that it owns…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Tom Waits v. Frito-Lay, Inc. Tracy-Locke, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1992
- R. G. Smith, Doing Business Under the Name and Style of Ta'ron, Inc., and International Fragrances, Inc. v. Chanel, Inc., and Chanel Industries, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1968
- Vanna White v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., a New York Corporation, and David Deutsch Associates, Inc., a New York CorporationCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1992
- In re Wella Corp.Court of Customs and Patent Appeals · 1977
- Wendt v. Host International, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1997
3Cited by18 opinions
- Phoenix Entertainment Partners v. Dannette RumseyCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2016
- RDF Media Ltd. v. Fox Broadcasting Co.District Court, C.D. California · 2005
- Safeworks, LLC v. Teupen America, LLCDistrict Court, W.D. Washington · 2010
- Hokto Kinoko Co. v. Concord Farms, Inc.District Court, C.D. California · 2011
- Polar Bear Productions, Inc. v. Timex Corp.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2004
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