Paramount Pictures v. Leader Press, 1807.
| Decision Date | 28 August 1939 |
| Docket Number | No. 1807.,1807. |
| Parties | PARAMOUNT PICTURES, Inc., et al. v. LEADER PRESS, Inc. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Frank Wells, of Oklahoma City, Okl. (D. I. Johnston and Keaton, Wells & Johnston, all of Oklahoma City, Okl., and Louis Phillips, of New York City, on the brief), for appellants.
Frank C. Love, of Oklahoma City, Okl. (Embry, Johnson, Crowe & Tolbert, Chas. Edward Johnson, and V. P. Crowe, all of Oklahoma City, Okl., on the brief), for appellee.
Before PHILLIPS, BRATTON, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
This is an action in equity brought by Paramount Pictures, Inc., and Paramount Pictures Distributing Company, Inc., against The Leader Press, Inc. Paramount Pictures, Inc., owns Paramount Pictures Distributing Company, Inc., as a subsidiary. Their separate corporate entity will be disregarded; they will be referred to in the singular; and reference will be made to the parties as they appeared in the trial court.
It is alleged in the bill that plaintiff is engaged in the production and distribution of motion pictures for exhibition in motion picture theaters in Oklahoma and elsewhere; that such pictures have been and are advertised, identified by the public, and known as "Paramount Pictures"; that during the previous fifteen years or more plaintiff has produced each year not less than fifty feature pictures and that it would produce at least an equal number during the current year; that they cost not less than two hundred thousand dollars each, some cost far in excess of that amount, and some cost a million or more; and that they have attained a very high standard of distinctive quality and merit, and enjoy an extremely valuable reputation in the mind of the general public. It is further alleged that plaintiff employs and has contracts with well-known and outstanding personalities of the stage, screen, and radio, sometimes referred to as "stars" and "featured players" to appear in its pictures; that, in addition to the employment of such personalities, it is necessary for plaintiff to develop and train new actors and actresses in order that new personalities may be created which will receive public approbation and acclaim, and will attain the status of stars and featured players; that through intensive direction, instruction, and exploitation, and the expenditure of large sums of money for outstanding plays and stories, the actors and actresses employed by plaintiff have attained outstanding prominence in the public mind, and the motion pictures in which they appear attract large audiences and are in great public demand; that proper and adequate publicity and advertising is indispensable to the stars and featured players appearing in motion pictures as well as to the pictures themselves as that constitutes the only means through which information is communicated to the public; that such publicity and advertising must be artistic, meritorious and attractive in form in order that it will appeal to the public and induce persons to attend motion pictures; that plaintiff employs a special staff of artists to prepare special drawings, pictures, photographs, lithographs, posters, display signs, press sheets, and other advertising material and accessories at an annual cost of five hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of announcing to the public in the most favorable and attractive manner its motion pictures and the stars and featured players appearing in them; that such advertising accessories are of highly artistic merit; that plaintiff also expends annually in excess of one million dollars in advertising and publicizing nationally in newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, and over the radio its motion pictures as well as the stars and featured players appearing in them; and that such attractive and adequate advertising as the medium of attracting the public to its motion pictures is of great value to plaintiff.
It is then alleged that the motion pictures are copyrighted; that they are distributed for exhibition at theatres, with provision that upon the completion of the exhibition the print shall be returned to plaintiff; that title to the pictures remains in plaintiff; that the licensee has no right in them except to exhibit them in accordance with the license agreement; that the revenue which plaintiff derives, whether it be a fixed fee or a sum equal to a specified percentage of the gross receipts, is diminished by improper advertising, exploitation, and publicity of the pictures and of the stars and featured players who appear in them; that in order to preserve the value of such motion pictures, to preserve and enhance the value of the stars and featured players, to preserve the value of the contracts which plaintiff has with its stars and featured players, to preserve the value of its trade name "Paramount Pictures", and to preserve its good will with the public, plaintiff provides in all of its license agreements with exhibitors, that the exhibitors shall advertise and announce the pictures as "Paramount Pictures", and shall otherwise adhere to the form of announcement contained in the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brooks Bros. v. Brooks Clothing of California
...v. Robertson, 2 Cir., 1928, 26 F.2d 972; Western Auto Supply Co. v. Knox, 10 Cir., 1937, 93 F.2d 850, 853; Paramount Pictures v. Leader Press, 10 Cir., 1929, 106 F.2d 229, 231; Philco Corp. v. Phillips Mfg. Co., 7 Cir., 1943, 133 F.2d 853, 855, 148 A.L.R. 125; Adolph Kastor & Bros. v. Feder......
-
Carroll v. Associated Musicians of Greater New York
...defendants have been held to inflict irreparable harm and injunctions have issued to restrain such acts. See Paramount Pictures v. Leader Press, 10 Cir.1939, 106 F.2d 229; Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. v. Wahlgren, D.C.N.D.Ill.1932, 1 F.Supp. 799, aff'd, 7 Cir.1934, 68 F.2d 660, cert. denied, 2......
-
Sunbeam Corp. v. Payless Drug Stores
...Comment A. 19 For an example of the sort of deception of the public which does give rise to a right of action see Paramount Pictures v. Leader Press, 10 Cir., 106 F.2d 229. 20 Paragraph 2, page 2, of the "* * * Upon information and belief, that each and all of the defendants are affiliated ......
-
Organovo Holdings, Inc. v. Dimitrov
...this decision does as well.75 See, e.g., Black & Yates v. Mahogany Ass'n, 129 F.2d 227 (3d. Cir. 1941) ; Paramount Pictures, Inc. v. Leader Press, Inc., 106 F.2d 229 (10th Cir. 1939) ; Saxon Motor Sales v. Torino, 166 Misc. 863, 2 N.Y.S.2d 885 (Sup. Ct. 1938) ; seeInjurious Falsehood, supra......