Erickson v. Trinity Theatre, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
13 F.3d 1061 (1994)

ELI5:

Rule of Law:

To be considered a joint author of a work under the Copyright Act, a contributor must satisfy a two-part test: (1) the parties must have intended to be joint authors at the time the work was created, and (2) each contributor's contribution must be independently copyrightable.

Facts:

Karen Erickson, a founder of Trinity Theatre, wrote three plays that were performed by the company: 'Much Ado About Shakespeare,' 'The Theatre Time Machine,' and 'Prairie Voices.'
The plays were developed through a collaborative and improvisational process where Trinity actors provided suggestions and ideas for the scripts.
For 'Much Ado' and 'Prairie Voices,' actors contributed ideas, but Erickson maintained ultimate control over what was included in the final scripts.
For 'The Theatre Time Machine,' actress Paddy Lynn made significant contributions through improvisation and was initially credited as a co-author on publicity materials and received royalties.
Erickson entered into a licensing agreement with Trinity designating her as the sole 'playwright' for two of the plays and received royalties for all three.
After leaving Trinity Theatre in January 1991, Erickson obtained copyright registrations for the plays in her name alone.
Erickson demanded that Trinity cease performing the plays, and Trinity refused, claiming its members were joint authors.

Procedural Posture:

Karen Erickson filed a complaint against Trinity Theatre in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging copyright infringement and seeking injunctive relief.
Erickson moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent Trinity from performing the plays and using related videotapes.
The district court referred the motion to a magistrate judge for a report and recommendation.
The magistrate judge recommended granting the injunction for the plays but denying it for the videotapes.
Both parties filed objections to the magistrate judge's report.
The district court sustained Erickson’s objections and overruled Trinity’s, granting a preliminary injunction that prohibited Trinity from using both the plays and the videotapes.
Trinity Theatre, as the appellant, appealed the district court's grant of the preliminary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

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Issue:

Does a contributor become a joint author of a work for copyright purposes by providing ideas, suggestions, and other uncopyrightable contributions to the primary author during a collaborative creative process?

Opinions:

Majority - Ripple, J.

No. A contributor does not become a joint author unless their contribution is independently copyrightable and there was a mutual intent to be joint authors. The court establishes a two-part test for determining joint authorship. First, the parties must intend for their contributions to be merged into a unitary whole, meaning they must intend to be joint authors. Second, each putative author's contribution must represent original expression that could stand on its own as copyrightable subject matter. The court rejected Trinity's proposed 'collaboration alone' standard as inconsistent with the statute's requirement of intent. It also rejected a 'de minimis' contribution test because it would improperly protect uncopyrightable ideas and create uncertainty. The copyrightability test, by contrast, promotes the goals of the Copyright Act by allowing the free exchange of ideas while providing a clear standard for creators to predict ownership rights. Applying this test, the court found that while there may have been some evidence of intent to be co-authors for 'Time Machine,' the actors' contributions to all three plays consisted of uncopyrightable ideas, suggestions, and refinements. Because the actors' contributions were not independently copyrightable, they were not joint authors, and the works belonged solely to Erickson.

Analysis:

This case is significant for formally adopting the two-part 'copyrightability' test for joint authorship in the Seventh Circuit, aligning it with the Second Circuit's influential decision in Childress v. Taylor. This ruling provides a clear and demanding standard for collaborators seeking co-ownership of a copyright, clarifying that merely contributing ideas, research, or suggestions is insufficient. By requiring both mutual intent and an independently copyrightable contribution, the decision protects primary authors from inadvertently losing sole ownership through collaborative workshops or peer review. This precedent reinforces the fundamental copyright principle that ideas are not protectable and has become the majority rule in the United States, shaping how creative partnerships are legally structured.

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