Merkin agreed, and the two settled informally on a fee of $1,500 for Merkin's services. Krakovski, who planned to finance and produce a short film based on the screenplay, asked Merkin whether he would be willing to direct the film. In September 2010, Krakovski, acting at all relevant times as the principal of Casa Duse, purchased the rights to a screenplay entitled Heads Up from the work's author, Ben Carlin.
Appellant Maurice Reichman is an attorney who represented Merkin in some of his dealings with Casa Duse. Appellant Alex Merkin is a film director, producer, and editor. The company is owned and operated by Robert Krakovski. We therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case to the district court with instructions for it to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment on the tortious interference claim and for such further proceedings as are warranted.Īppellee 16 Casa Duse, LLC, (“Casa Duse”) is a film-production company based in Brooklyn, New York. We also conclude, however, that the defendant, not the plaintiff, was entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiff's claim for tortious interference with business relations under New York law. Because we agree with the district court that the plaintiff owns the copyright to all versions of the work in question, a film entitled Heads Up, and that copyright does not subsist in individual contributions to that film, we conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment to the plaintiff on its copyright claims and did not abuse its discretion in enjoining the defendant from interfering with the plaintiff's use of the film. Sullivan, Judge ) granting summary judgment to the plaintiff on its copyright and state-law claims, dismissing the defendant's copyright counterclaims, and awarding the plaintiff costs and attorney's fees. This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Richard J. Reichman, New York, NY, for Defendant–Counter–Claimant–Appellant & Appellant. Wolkoff, on the brief), Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff–Counter–Defendant–Appellee.
Decided: June 29, 2015īefore KATZMANN, Chief Judge, SACK and LYNCH, Circuit Judges.Įleanor M. Merkin Entertainment, LLC, Defendant.* Docket No. Alex MERKIN, Defendant–Counter–Claimant–Appellant, Maurice A. United States Court of Appeals,Second Circuit.ġ6 CASA DUSE, LLC, Plaintiff–Counter–Defendant–Appellee, v.
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