Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros.

Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros., 222 U.S. 55 (1911), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held producing a motion picture based on a dramatic work can be copyright infringement. The producer of the motion picture is liable even they are not the exhibitor. This does not extend to a restriction of the dramatic work's ideas; it is a recognition of the author's monopoly powers granted by Congress.[1]

Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 31 – November 1, 1911 Decided November 13, 1911
Full case name	Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros.
Citations	222 U.S. 55 (more) 32 S. Ct. 20; 56 L. Ed. 92
Holding
Producing a motion picture based on a dramatic work can be copyright infringement. The producer of the motion picture is liable even they are not the exhibitor. This does not extend to a restriction of the dramatic work's ideas; it is a recognition of the author's monopoly powers granted by Congress.
Court membership
Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr. William R. Day · Horace H. Lurton Charles E. Hughes · Willis Van Devanter Joseph R. Lamar

The case involved a 1907 film adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace.

References

1. Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros. Co., 222 U.S. 55 (1911)

External links

• Text of Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros., 222 U.S. 55 (1911) is available from:  Cornell  CourtListener  Findlaw  Justia  Library of Congress