Cabrera v. Teatro Del Sesenta, Inc.
| Decision Date | 31 March 1995 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 94-2021 (JAF/ADC). |
| Citation | 914 F. Supp. 743 |
| Parties | Pablo CABRERA, Plaintiff, v. TEATRO DEL SESENTA, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Harry Anduze, Victor P. Miranda, San Juan PR, for Plaintiff Pablo Cabrera.
María L. Jiménez, San Juan PR, for Defendants Idalia Pérez Garay, Eneida Molina, Ulises Santiago, José Félix Gómez and Pedro Juan Texidor.
On July 26, 1994, plaintiff Pablo Cabrera (Cabrera) filed a Complaint and Request for Injunctive Relief alleging copyright infringement under the Copyrights Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq., false designation under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and for damages under Article 1802 of the P.R.Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5141. It is alleged that the defendants Teatro del Sesenta, Inc. (Teatro), Idalia Pérez-Garay (Pérez-Garay), Eneida Molina (Molina), Ulises Santiago (Santiago), José F. Gómez (Gómez) and Pedro Juan Texidor (Texidor), who are either members, associates or collaborators of Teatro claiming coauthorship of the play, intended to produce and present the theater play "La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja" ("Pedro Navaja") in violation of plaintiff Cabrera's authorship rights.
Cabrera claims to be the sole author of the music and lyrics for the play, which was originally staged on September 19, 1980, under his sole direction. It is also claimed that the scenic and theatrical conceptualization are Cabrera's intellectual property. The Certificate of Copyright Registration No. PAU-276-120 issued by the U.S. Copyrights Office on March 12, 1981, was obtained through the financial and administrative efforts of Teatro and appears issued under the sole name of Pablo Cabrera. Based on the prima facie presumption with which the certificate of registration vested the plaintiff (17 U.S.C. § 410)1, it was requested that defendants be enjoined from producing, staging and presenting the play "Pedro Navaja."
On July 27, 1994, at plaintiff's request, the District Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order, enjoining the presentation of the theater play which was to be presented on August 3, 1994.2 (Docket # 3).
The next day, that is, on July 28, 1994, the defendants filed their answer to the complaint and requested the dissolution of the restraining order, alleging: that the efforts for the presentation of the play had begun on May, 1994, and that they had incurred in substantial costs and expenses;3 that the order was based on plaintiff's allegation of exclusive authorship when in fact the theater play was the product of the collaboration of the plaintiff and the defendants and was therefore a "joint work," as defined in 17 U.S.C. § 101 of the Copyrights Act; the defendants also possessed a supplementary Certificate of Registration (PAU-1-806-555) issued by the U.S. Copyrights Office under the disposition of § 408(d) of the Copyrights Act 17 U.S.C. § 408(d);4 no consent to stage or license the use of the play was needed from a co-author; Teatro had staged and produced the play on over 400 different occasions with plaintiff's knowledge; and since 1989 plaintiff, with whom defendants had dealt in good faith, was aware and formally notified of defendants' co-authorship claim.
On July 28, 1994, at a fruitless settlement conference before the district judge, parties consented to have trial conducted before this Magistrate-Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2), the district court consolidated the hearing for the preliminary injunction with the trial on the issue of authorship. The issue of damages should there be any, was to be decided later by a jury.
Trial commenced on July 29, 1994. During the second day of trial, the plaintiff voluntarily moved the Court to lift and vacate the temporary restraining order, agreeing to allow the defendants to present performances of the play.5
A. THE LEGAL ISSUE AND OUR CHARACTERS
The plaintiff claims to be the sole author of the play "Pedro Navaja." The defendants, to the contrary, claim to have conceived of the idea and conceptualization for the play, inspired by a song of Rubén Blades (Blades), a Latin American composer. The defendants further claim that the script for the play is the product of the joint or collective work of all the parties, and that all defendants, as well as the plaintiff are to be considered co-authors of the play.
At the time the play was written, all defendants were members of Teatro, a non-profit theater company, with two main goals: promoting the dramatic arts in Puerto Rico and raising the necessary funds to buy the Sylvia Rexach Theater (Rexach Theater).
All defendants, the plaintiff and some of Teatro's collaborators testified during trial. Although the parties' specific intent, contributions, and collaboration are described in detail in the factual exposition of this case, it is necessary for a global understanding of the facts presented, that their professional background be known.
This defendant became a member of Teatro in 1967 and its Artistic Director in 1989. She is considered one of the founding members of Teatro and has been a professor of the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico since 1969. She has a Masters Degree in Theater from Center College in Strausberg, France. Pérez-Garay has excelled as an actress and has devoted her life to the theater media.
During the play's presentation, Pérez-Garay participated as an actress in the starring female role and also as costume designer and assistant director during the auditioning sessions.
A defendant and scriptwriter who graduated from the National College of Journalism in Madrid, Spain, Molina has vast experience in journalism and advertisement. She has written scripts for several historical/cultural productions and documentaries for the state government through Producciones Culturales, Inc., a family corporation to which she is a partner. Molina received first prize at the New York Film Festival for her work "Step Away", a film written for the Pan American Games. These cultural productions along with one written and produced for the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee ("Sports as a Cultural Expression"), the script for the film "We Were Always Here", and "The History of Women in Puerto Rican History", were scripts and documentaries written prior to the work on the play "Pedro Navaja."
Molina was a collaborator but not a member of Teatro. She was commissioned by Teatro's Artistic Committee to write an adaption of Brecht's "The Three Penny Opera." She wrote and submitted the first act for the script and its subsequent revision. The play was then entitled "La salsopera de dos chavos" (Exhibit R and S).
This witness for the defendants is one of the most prestigious Puerto Rican music composers. He wrote the music for all of the songs in "Pedro Navaja" after being recruited by Pérez-Garay to collaborate on the project. In this particular case Rivera-Toledo received the lyrics of the songs from Pérez-Garay, and then wrote its music. Later on, he assisted the defendants (mainly Pérez-Garay, Gómez, Texidor) and plaintiff Cabrera in the auditioning and selection of the singing actors for the play.
This defendant is an Associate Professor of Drama Theater at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Humanities. He received a Masters in Fine Arts (Theatrical Arts and Directing) from Ohio University and has taught courses in Acting, Diction, Drama Appreciation, Theater History, Avant-Garde Theater, and Stage Design. In the professional arena he has directed his own plays and monologues and has had an extensive professional career. Gómez has been a member of Teatro since 1972, and although its Associate Artistic Director, he has also performed as director, actor, writer, executive producer, and designer.
During the presentation of "Pedro Navaja" he participated as an actor in the leading role of Pedro Navaja, and as the Executive Producer of the music.
This witness for the defendants joined Teatro in 1966, and since then has performed as an actress, administrative assistant, secretary, and Head of Publicity and Public Relations.
While performing and working for Teatro she witnessed the working sessions and creative process that preceded the creation of the script and the play's presentation. Ríos was also responsible for the administrative and clerical activities conducted to obtain the copyright certifications in this case.
Having graduated from the New York University in Stonybrook, with a Masters Degree in Education and History, Ramírez joined Teatro in 1980 and five years later became the President of its Board of Directors. During the initial staging of the play in 1980, he was designated "stage manager" and during its second staging in 1984, he served as an assistant director.
Throughout his testimony, Ramírez described his duties during the initial and subsequent staging of the play, the process through which the copyright registration was obtained, Teatro's rights over the play, the creative process in which plaintiff and members of Teatro did participate and defendants' claims since 1989 regarding the issue of authorship rights.
Texidor, a codefendant, is an actor, director, producer, set and lighting designer and member of Teatro from 1971 to 1985. Throughout these years, he performed as a Board member, house set designer, actor and producer for Teatro.
Texidor while asserting co-authorship, claimed to have participated in the writing and creative process which began in mid or late 1979, and in the conceptualization of the structural scenic design over which he claims ownership.
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