Watchmen Lawsuit Pt. 5: Fox Tries to Finish

On November 17, 2008, Twentieth Century Fox filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in regards to Claims 1 (copyright infringement) and 5 (declaratory relief) of its complaint against Warner Bros. et. al regarding the Watchmen movie. In this motion, Fox requested that the court find that, as a matter of law, Warner Bros. committed copyright infringement of its exclusive domestic distribution rights, its exclusive foreign distribution rights and its exclusive production rights in the Watchmen motion picture. In relation to claim five, Fox requested declaratory relief from the court stating that:

1. Fox, and not Warner Bros., owns copyright interests to use or exploit Watchmen source material to distribute a theatrical picture and other derivative works.
2. Fox, and not Warner Bros., owns the rights to use or exploit Watchmen source material to develop and produce a theatrical picture and other derivative works.
3. Fox, and not Warner Bros., owns the rights to use or exploit Watchmen source material to develop, produce and distribute a theatrical picture and other derivative works based on Changed Elements in the Watchmen project.

Given the judge’s ruling on Warner Bros. 12(b)(6) motion, it will be very interesting to see how he rules on the summary judgment motion. Note the design of Fox’s summary judgment motion: it is only focused on the infringement and declaratory relief claims. This suggests that Fox believes there is enough evidence on the record to have the judge rule to enter a judgment against Warner Bros. on these claims but not the contract interference or breach claims. Indeed, the judge’s statements in the motion to dismiss hint at their moves. The judge wrote that “it is particularly noteworthy that nothing on the face of the complaint or the documents supplied to the Court establishes that Gordon, the claimed source of Warner Brothers’ interest in ‘Watchmen,’ ever acquired any rights in ‘Watchmen.’ Thus, Warner Brothers’ arguments, if they are to succeed at all, will need to find support beyond the face of the complaint and the applicable agreements.”

Remember that if Gordon never acquired any rights, he had nothing to convey to Warner Brothers. Thus, if Warner Brothers produced a Watchmen film, they would be in violation of Fox’s exclusive rights to the motion picture property (obtained through D.C. Comics). Hearings on Fox’s summary judgment are scheduled for December 15, 2008. The trial is scheduled January 2, 2009. The film is scheduled to be released on March 6, 2009. Go back to the original complaint and look at what sort of damages Fox is seeking in relation to Claim 1 (copyright infringement). In addition to requesting actual or statutory damages in accordance with proof of each act of copyright infringement, Fox requested "preliminary and permanent injunctive relief" enjoining Warner Bros. from "reproducing, distributing, publishing, adapting, displaying, advertising, promoting, offering for sale or transfer and/or selling or transferring any production of The Watchmen or any work substantially similar to same." The clock ticks.