Hicks v. Casablanca Records
204 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 126, 464 F. Supp. 426, 4 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1497 (1978)
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Rule of Law:
The First Amendment protects the publication of fictionalized works concerning public figures, and this right outweighs a deceased public figure's post-mortem right of publicity, provided the work is clearly presented to the public as fiction rather than a factual account containing deliberate falsifications.
Facts:
- Agatha Christie was a world-renowned mystery author who, during her lifetime, cultivated her name professionally and authorized its use in connection with plays and movies based on her works.
- In December 1926, Christie mysteriously disappeared from her home for eleven days, an event that was widely publicized and remains unsolved.
- Upon Christie's death in 1976, the rights in her works and name passed to her heir, Rosalind Christie Hicks, and her assignees.
- Movie producers including Casablanca Records began filming a motion picture titled "Agatha," which presented a fictionalized account of Christie's eleven-day disappearance.
- Publisher Ballantine Books prepared to release a book, also titled "Agatha" and explicitly labeled as a "novel," based on the same fictionalized premise.
- The fictional plot in both the book and movie portrays Christie as an emotionally unstable woman who schemes to murder her husband's mistress.
Procedural Posture:
- The heir and assignees of Agatha Christie sued movie producers and a book publisher in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
- Plaintiffs sought preliminary injunctions to enjoin the distribution of the movie and book titled "Agatha".
- An earlier motion by plaintiffs for a temporary restraining order in the movie case was denied by the court.
- The defendants in both cases filed separate motions to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaints for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
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Issue:
Does the descendible right of publicity prevent the publication and distribution of a clearly fictionalized novel and motion picture based on a real-life event in the life of a deceased public figure?
Opinions:
Majority - Pierce, District Judge
No. The right of publicity does not prevent the publication of a fictionalized book or movie about a deceased public figure when it is evident to the public that the work is fiction. The court first found that Agatha Christie's right of publicity was a property right that survived her death because she had exploited her name commercially during her lifetime by assigning rights for use in plays and movies. However, this property right must be balanced against the First Amendment's protection of speech, which extends to books and movies. Drawing an analogy to New York's right of privacy law, the court distinguished between works that present deliberate falsifications as fact, which may be unprotected (as in Spahn v. Julian Messner, Inc.), and works that are clearly fictional. Because the book was labeled a "novel" and the works were presented as fictional accounts rather than factual biographies, the court found they were more akin to the protected satire in University of Notre Dame. The court concluded that the First Amendment interest in protecting creative expression outweighs the plaintiffs' post-mortem right of publicity.
Analysis:
This decision establishes a significant limitation on the post-mortem right of publicity, clarifying that it cannot be used by heirs to veto fictional works about deceased public figures. The court's holding protects the genre of historical fiction by creating a crucial distinction between actionable, deliberate falsifications presented as fact and protected fictionalizations. This precedent ensures that the right of publicity does not evolve into a tool for censorship of literature and art, safeguarding creative expression that draws upon the lives of historical persons.
