My First Love Is In The Public Domain

CONTACTS:
Andrew J. Thomas, Esq. Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (213) 633 – 6861, ajthomas@dwt.com
Michael Hensinger - Marketing Specialist Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (213) 633 – 6863, hensm@dwt.com
FOR RELEASE June 29, 2005
Court Rules that Marilyn Monroe Photos Belong to the World
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 29, 2005 —Yesterday, in United States District Court in Orange County, Judge Gary L. Taylor entered judgment in favor of VNU Business Media, Inc. in a copyright infringement suit over a biography of Marilyn Monroe that VNU published in 2001. The plaintiff, Milton H. Greene Archives, Inc., had sued the book publisher for copyright infringement, claiming ownership of photographs used to publicize Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl, films starring Ms. Monroe in the 1950s. In granting a summary judgment motion filed by VNU, the court ruled that the plaintiff, a company owned by the son of the celebrity photographer, did not own valid copyrights in the photos because they were originally published without copyright notice at the time of the theatrical release of the films and thus fell into the public domain.
“We are extremely pleased with the result,” said Andrew J. Thomas, a Davis Wright Tremaine attorney who defended VNU in this suit. “The judge took a great deal of time and care considering both sides’ claims, but eventually sided with VNU due to the extensive historical documentation we presented.”
The suit arose from the use of seven photos of Ms. Monroe in a book that chronicled her film career titled Blonde Heat, authored by Richard Buskin and published by VNU's Watson-Guptill Publications division. The photographs were publicity shots used to promote two films in 1956 and 1957, Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl , which were produced through a partnership with Marilyn Monroe and photographer Milton H. Greene. Through archive research and expert testimony, VNU was able to show that all of the photographs at issue either were published in contemporaneous newspaper advertisements and articles, or were included in the film studios' promotional materials, called “press books”, that were distributed to theater operators nationwide to assist in film marketing. Because the photographs were widely distributed without proper copyright notices on them, the photographs fell into the public domain under the copyright law in effect at the time.
Milton H. Greene Archives, Inc. v. BPI Communications, Inc. & Watson-Guptill Publications (SACV 04-635-GLT)
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