Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 October 1978
• Docket Number: No. 75-1821-Civ-NCR.,75-1821-Civ-NCR.
• Citation: 460 F. Supp. 984
• Parties: Gene MILLER, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., American Broadcasting Companies and Post-Newsweek Stations Florida, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

460 F. Supp. 984

Gene MILLER, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., American Broadcasting Companies and Post-Newsweek Stations Florida, Inc., Defendants.

No. 75-1821-Civ-NCR.

United States District Court, S. D. Florida, Ft. Lauderdale Division.

October 31, 1978.

Irwin J. Block, Fine Jacobson Block Goldberg & Semet, P.A., Miami, Fla., for plaintiff.

Barry R. Davidson, Steel Hector & Davis, Miami, Fla., for defendants.

ORDER

ROETTGER, District Judge.

Plaintiff recovered for copyright infringement a verdict in excess of $200,000 against defendants and the matter is before the court on defendants' motion for a new trial.

Plaintiff is a reporter with the Miami Herald who has twice received a Pulitzer prize for general local reporting, an accomplishment achieved by no other reporter. The origins of this case spring from his reporting the story of the Barbara Mackle kidnapping, a diabolical crime which occurred at the beginning of the college Christmas vacation in December 1971.

Barbara Mackle, the daughter of a wealthy Florida land development company officer, was attending college in Atlanta. Her abductors took her from an Atlanta motel room where she had been staying with her mother because the college infirmary was overcrowded due to a flu epidemic. She was placed in a coffin-like container, having certain self-contained ventilating systems and buried alive in the Georgia woods. She was rescued from the box on the fifth day, not long before the life-sustaining capability of the coffin-box was to expire.

Miller and Barbara Mackle agreed to write the book together about her kidnapping — she was to relate the events to him and Miller was to write it. The book produced was titled 83 Hours Till Dawn. Barbara Mackle assigned her interest in the litigation to plaintiff.

At the close of plaintiff's case the court directed a verdict for defendants on the issues of unfair competition and punitive damages. The issue was submitted to the jury on the question of copyright infringement and the jury returned a verdict of $185,000 for damages — an intriguing amount inasmuch as it exceeded the amount plaintiff requested in closing argument. In addition, the verdict included loss of profits, as follows: against Universal for $16,000.00; ABC for $15,000.00 and defendant Post-Newsweek (TV Channel 10 in Miami) for $750.00. The trial was bifurcated and the same jury, which first determined that infringement by defendants had occurred, heard the evidence on damages and entered an award.

Plaintiff's technique consisted of personal research and interviews with the participants in the drama; he estimated an expenditure of more than 2500 hours in the preparation of the book. The writing technique is similar to that familiar to readers in recent years describing specific crimes: e. g. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Thompson's Blood Money. Similar styles are also found in descriptions of historical events, such as Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and The Last Hundred Days; Walter Lord's A Day In Infamy and Incredible Victory; among others.

Miller testified as to a number of similarities between his book and both the script and film. Among the similarities, the source of which is found only in his book are the following:

the second call of the priest;

the kidnapper's description of the box — a "room";

the phrase of the kidnapper to Barbara Mackle: "poor little rich girl" — in fact, Barbara Mackle described it to plaintiff as "little rich girl" and Miller modified it in his book. In the script the phrase "poor little rich girl" is pencilled in; it also appears in the film;

Miller's insertion of the phone call from a friend to the Mackle house where F.B.I. agents answer the phone as a means of literary relief;

the F.B.I.'s idea of using a double to deliver the ransom as well as the plan to put an agent in the trunk for protection; and Barbara's sucking water out of a tube while in the box.

Significantly, the operator who received a call from the kidnapper giving the location of the "coffin" died within three months after the trial; she did not testify at the trial and Miller interviewed her immediately after the trial. His book is the only source as to her version of the events.

Even mistakes made by Miller were copied into the film: the want ad — the medium required to respond to the kidnappers — was located in the same place both in the book and the film although it actually appeared in a different location.

William Frye, a producer for Universal, read Miller's account of the kidnapping in a doctor's office. He thought it would be an excellent television film or movie and circulated the magazine at the studio. In addition, he told plaintiff he was interested in making a movie and that it would be an excellent TV film. He gave a copy of the book to Gerard, the script writer, and never received it back.

In February of 1972, Frye called Miller about purchasing the rights and offered him $15,000.00. Miller refused it and asked for $200,000. Frye indicated he might go as high as $25,000 but no agreement was reached and plaintiff was not paid for the rights.

The writer, Gerard, read the Readers' Digest article in January or February, 1972 and thought it would be a good story for a movie of the week. He claimed he went to the library and read for one-to-two hours but admitted that he had written a good deal of the script before the transcript of the court proceedings arrived. He used the transcript to check facts. By April 21, 1972 a full run of the script was completed and 150 copies distributed. He admitted he might have looked at the book or the Readers' Digest article even after April 5th to check matters not available elsewhere. He testified he thought a deal had been made with Miller for the rights and he could proceed on that basis.

Particularly damning evidence against defendants was the "smoking gun exhibit", a memo from Gerard to Frye dated March 7, 1972, which states as follows:

"In examining the work I have completed to date in the light of Cliff Phillip's memo of caution, I find I am really flying blind.

The news stories I was able to find in the main library and those I received from Research are far too general, and contain almost no detail to support the scenes I have written. In addition, the `True Detective' story of the case that Research dug up contains some important inconsistencies with the material in the book and the `Reader's Digest' version.

The newspaper stories from Miami and Atlanta and the trial transcript that Research wrote for weeks ago would undoubtedly supply all the information I would need, but to date none of it has arrived. Consequently all I have to go on — and have been using while waiting — is the book, and that is verboten.

In the light of all this, I can only suggest that I wait until the source material arrives before proceeding, or go to Miami and Atlanta myself and do my own digging, so that I will not continue to write pages that will in all likelihood have to be completely altered.

If the decision is for me to go, in the light Mr. Mackle's telephone call, telegram, etc., perhaps I should have a bodyguard while I am in Mr. Mackle's territory. I am only half kidding.

Incidentally, I have a working title, `THE LONGEST NIGHT'."

Universal's television film, found by the jury to have infringed plaintiff's copyright, was entitled THE LONGEST NIGHT and shown nationally by ABC and locally in the Miami area by local Post-Newsweek station, Channel 10.

The preceding evidence alone would have amply justified the finding of infringement by defendants. In addition, plaintiff introduced other evidence of infringement plus an expert opinion, all amply buttressing the jury's conclusion of infringement. Further, the jury had convincing visual evidence of the writer Gerard's squirming and fidgeting on the witness stand indicating that he had plagiarized plaintiff's book.

Although defendants have listed numerous bases for a new trial¹ the court feels only one needs extensive discussion in this order. That ground is the contention that the court erred in failing to give defendant's proposed instruction concerning originality and the importance of research. The instruction which the court gave to the jury which is comparable to defendants' proposed instruction No. 8 (second set)² reads in its entirety as follows:

Similarly in a case like the instant one which deals with factual matters such as news events the facts themselves are not

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