Leo Feist, Inc. v. Demarie
| Decision Date | 25 March 1935 |
| Docket Number | No. 515.,515. |
| Citation | 16 F. Supp. 827 |
| Parties | LEO FEIST, Inc., et al. v. DEMARIE. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
J. S. Lucas, of New Orleans, La., for complainants.
T. Arthur Edwards, of Lake Charles, La., for respondent.
Plaintiffs brought this suit for infringement of the copyrights to certain musical compositions. They alleged that the defendant performed or permitted to be performed the said compositions for profit in a certain place of "business entertainment, accommodation and refreshment, known as Blue Lake Dance Hall, in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana," and prayed for the statutory damages of $250 for each of the two compositions alleged to have been performed. Defendant's answer was substantially a general denial.
The evidence shows that the defendant operated the place of business on a commission basis. It was a small roadhouse or dance hall, which operated for only a short while and the music was played by a string band composed of some three or four pieces. The proceeds were first to be applied to the payment of the musicians and the balance, if any, was to belong to defendant. Very little was realized.
The witnesses for the plaintiffs swore that the compositions were played or performed, while those for the defendant could not recall what music was played, but stated they were mostly "French pieces." They denied that they recognized or had ever heard played the pieces complained of under those names. However, they could not recall what music was played, and I am compelled to find that the evidence preponderates in favor of the copyrights having been infringed, as the witnesses for the plaintiffs made notes at the time and testified positively to the performances. It was not necessary that the musicians should have had the music before them; the playing thereof by ear or otherwise for profit would constitute an infringement of the copyrights.
Defendant has pleaded in bar of the plaintiffs' right to recover Act No. 137 of the Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana for 1934, which reads as follows:
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Remick Music Corp. v. Interstate Hotel Co. of Nebraska
...in method or in scope, see Leo Feist, Inc., v. Young, 7 Cir. 138 F.2d 972, reversing, D. C., 46 F.Supp. 622, and Leo Feist, Inc., v. Demarie, D.C.La., 16 F.Supp. 827, in each of which conclusions similar in general thought to that arrived at here are reached. If it be granted, as the defend......
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Leo Feist v. Young
...by the federal statute, and thus was seeking to enforce its rights in a wholly legal manner. As the court said in Leo Feist, Inc. v. Demarie, D.C., 16 F. Supp. 827, where a Louisiana statute was under consideration and non-compliance with that law by the plaintiff was pleaded as a defense, ......
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