2008 in Review: Documentary Lawsuit Provides Reminder That Historical Facts Cannot be Copyrighted
In Novak, et. al. v. Warner Bros. Pictures LLC, et. al., two documentarians who produced a film about the Marshall University football program claimed that Warner Brothers produced and released a motion picture, “We Are Marshall,” that infringed on their copyrights in the documentary.
On October 20, 2008, the court granted Warner Brother’s Motion for Summary Judgment. According to the Hon. Gary Allen Feess, who also presided over the Watchmen copyright lawsuit, the plaintiffs (the documentarians) had the burden to prove that the two films were “substantially similar” under current US copyright doctrine. Warner Brothers successfully argued that that the works are similar only in that they both deal with events surrounding a November 14, 1970 airplane crash, and that those events are historical facts in which no one can claim a copyright interest.