Araceli Gaucin

Case Memo #1
Faulkner Literary Rights, LLC v.
Sony Pictures

PLAINTIFF: Faulkner Literary Rights, LLC

DEFENDANTS: Sony Pictures Classics, Inc and John Doe Persons or Entities

FACTS: Plaintiff Faulkner Literary Rights, LLC William Faulkner wrote Requiem for a Nun, a
cross-genre between a novel and a three-act play, as a sequel to his novel, Sanctuary. In it the
character Temple Drake's nanny, Nancy, has been sentenced to death for the murder of Temple's
child. Nancy's defense attorney, Gavin Stevens, visits Temple to ask that she plead clemency for
Nancy since Temple herself is not without fault in her child's death. In response, Temple resists
and distances herself from her past, stating that she is now Mrs. Gowan Stevens, not Temple
Drake. Gavin Stevens retorts, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

The Defendants have a line of dialogue in the film Midnight in Paris that is derivative of
Falkner’s work. There is a scene where character Gil Pender accuses his fiancé Inez of carrying
on an affair with her friend Paul Bates. Inez, incredulous, asks where Gil might have gotten such
an idea. Gil responds that he got the idea from Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and
Salvador Dali, a notion Inez ridicules because they are all dead. In response, Gil states, "The past
is not dead. Actually, it's not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner, and he was right.
And I met him too. I ran into him at a dinner party." The character of Gil Pender is an admirer of
Faulkner’s work, and the quote was included with good faith.

CLAIM: Plaintiff sued, claiming Defendants’ movie infringed on William Faulkner’s

copyrighted works.

WINNER: Defendants.

REASON: the use of a William Faulkner quote in the film Midnight in Paris is justified under a
De Minimis copyright analysis. This claims that some issues are just two small or insignificant
for courts to spend their time on. Also, the fair use of a copyrighted work was not infringed upon
due to the portion used in the relation to the work as a whole. The line in the film was used for
the purpose of showing the characters interests and did not alter or transform the original work.
The Plaintiffs copywrited work is a piece of literature and the Defendants work is a speaking part
in a Comedy Movie. Sony couldn’t have sought substantial commercial benefit by infringing on
copyrighted material for no more than eight seconds in a ninety-minute film.

LESSON LEARNED: If you’re a small company don’t waste time and money on such small
claims. If you are like Sony and Faulkner Literary Rights, LLC then there is probably no
significant loss on their part but it is important to know what is worth going to court for and what
isn’t.