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THE LAW OF MOTION PICTURES
decision in Brady v. Reliance Co., that the publisher’s assignee has the exclusive right to the production of the picture, and that the right of the author’s assignee is suspended during the term of the grant from the publisher to his assignee.
If there is an outright sale to the third party by the publisher of the motion picture rights, the author loses such rights forever.
Many of our most popular novels are based upon historical events. There is no question that these events are within the public domain. Let us take the case of a historical novel written to-day and based upon some familiar historical subject, the development of the theme adhering closely to the sequence of the events as they actually occurred. Let us assume that this novel is duly copyrighted, and that the author or proprietor of the novel grants away the motion picture rights. Will the licensee acquire such rights in the arrangement and development of his theme as will preclude another from producing a similar picture?
We do not think so. The arrangement and development of a well-known historical theme cannot strictly be said to be original, and while the novel as a whole may be the subject of copyright, yet those portions of it which treat of things within the public domain cannot acquire the protection of copyright.
Anyone may make an independent dramatization from the common source but must not make use of or resort to the licensee’s dramatization or the novel from which the dramatization was made.
For the same reason a motion picture based directly