Bachman v. Belasco
| Decision Date | 12 May 1915 |
| Docket Number | 143. |
| Parties | BACHMAN et al. v. BELASCO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Charles O. Maas, of New York City (Tupper & Kavanagh, of New York City, of counsel), for appellants.
Dittenhoefer Gerber & James, of New York City (A. J. Dittenhoefer and Dudley F. Phelps, both of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.
Before LACOMBE, COXE, and WARD, Circuit Judges.
The complainant Bachman wrote and duly copyrighted a dramatic composition entitled 'Etelle.' The keynote of the play was dual personality, a phenomenon which had been exploited by Dr. Morton Prince in a book detailing his scientific study of the case of a lady, whom he calls Miss Beauchamp (not the real name of his patient), and by John Corbin in a story published in the Ladies Home Journal entitled 'How One Girl Lived Four Lives. ' Miss Bachman sent her play to defendant; it remained in the possession of his reader for six weeks, and was then returned with a letter stating that defendant had read the play, but regretted that it was not available. The testimony shows that this was what the District Judge describes as 'a polite way of declining the manuscript. ' Defendant and his reader both testified that Mr. Belasco did not read the play.
Mr Edward Locke wrote a dramatic composition called 'After Many Days' with the same motif-- a dual personality-- which was accepted by defendant and performed on the stage of his theater, the name being changed to 'The Case of Becky.' Locke testified that he did not see or know of Miss Bachman's play when he wrote his own. Plaintiff's contention is that the similarities between the two are such as to demonstrate the was a plagiarism from 'Etelle.' Appellant's brief fairly states the issue as follows:
'The paramount question is whether the similarities existing between the two plays are mere coincidences arising because of the development by two playwrights of a central idea taken from a common source, or whether these similarities are such as to overbalance the testimony of the defendant's witnesses and reveal plagiarism, and, further, if there was not piracy, was there such an unintentional infringement of complainant's copyright as to justify the equitable relief which complainants seek?'
We have read Corbin's story, have looked over Dr. Prince's book, and have read both plays, and have reached the conclusion that in the...
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