Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/32/556.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 01:25:28+00:00

Document:
HENRY BARSHA et al., Respondents, v. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (a Corporation) et al., Appellants.
Loeb & Loeb, Milton H. Schwartz and Herman F. Selvin for Appellants.
Carpenter, Babson & Fendler and Harold A. Fendler for Respondents.
A judgment was entered against the corporation defendants in the sum of $10,000 upon the return of the verdict of a jury. The appeal is prosecuted by the corporation defendants from the judgment and from the order denying their motion for the entry of judgment in their favor notwithstanding the verdict. A number of individual defendants were named in the complaint but as to them the action was dismissed.
Plaintiffs wrote a motion picture scenario which they titled "High Fever". A copy of plaintiffs' manuscript was delivered to appellants on January 2, 1935, for the purpose of examination and reading, appellants agreeing that if they did not purchase the manuscript they would return it to [32 Cal. App. 2d 559] plaintiffs. The manuscript was delivered to Irving Thalberg, production manager for appellants, by Mrs. Edna Schley, an agent, who, to refresh her memory, while testifying read from her diary entry: "I also gave him (Thalberg) story for the Marx Bros. 'High Fever' by Barsha and LaSage (Weissmann). This is a very likely original for them and Mr. Thalberg will read personally." The manuscript remained for five months with appellants, who refused to purchase it and returned it to plaintiffs. Thereafter appellants produced a motion picture under the title "A Day at the Races". It is charged by plaintiffs that appellants deliberately and unlawfully copied and appropriated their literary composition and produced a photoplay containing substantial portions of the composition which was their exclusive property; that appellants "have inextricably intermingled the same with other literary composition and moving picture scenario, but which defendants have cunningly and shrewdly combined therewith". It was shown in evidence that Mr. Thalberg, since deceased, took active part in the production of the picture "A Day at the Races". One of his assistants testified: "Q. Did Mr. Thalberg have anything to do with the story 'A Day at the Races?' A. Yes. He helped in construction. He helped in suggestions, and he helped in the usual manner, in which all producers help in regulating and superintending direction of author's work."
As is to be expected in such cases the briefs contain much discussion on the question of the extent of the similarities [32 Cal. App. 2d 560] between plaintiffs' manuscript and the picture produced by appellants. A special production of "A Day at the Races" was viewed by the jury and at the request of both parties the members of this court also have seen a presentation of the picture. From the manuscripts contained in the record and from the picture itself it is to be observed that both the plaintiffs' manuscript and the manuscript for the picture were prepared with the idea in view of having certain actors known as the Marx Brothers play the important parts. In both, a wealthy dowager conceives the idea that a certain veterinarian (Groucho Marx) has great medical ability, and she insists upon the veterinarian becoming the head of a sanitarium which she agrees to assist financially and does in fact assist financially because the veterinarian is installed as chief of staff; the other Marx brothers (Chico and Harpo) purport to act as assistants to the veterinarian, although all are ignorant of proper medical practice; they perform fake examinations, sing while performing an examination, confuse gas service station equipment with hospital equipment and cause operating rooms to be flooded with water; the treatment which the veterinarian gives to the wealthy widow at the sanitarium consists largely of holding her hand and demonstrating spurious affections for her, but whenever he can escape from the widow he makes love to prettier women; one of the female characters attempts to betray the veterinarian for the benefit of another man, who seeks to profit personally by undermining the veterinarian's influence with the widow, expose him as a quack and thus destroy the sanitarium; the sanitarium is in financial difficulties, from which it is finally saved (by the outcome of a football game in plaintiffs' manuscript and of a horse race in the photoplay); although the veterinarian is exposed as a faker and his philandering becomes known, the widow continues to pursue him until she finally succeeds in winning him.
 It is contended on behalf of appellants that the implied finding of the jury that appellants made use of their composition is not supported by the evidence. Their argument is based largely upon the testimony of writers in the employ of appellants who testified that they did not use plaintiffs' manuscript. It is within the province of the jury to draw reasonable inferences from the facts shown in evidence and the effect of inferences reasonably drawn is not destroyed [32 Cal. App. 2d 561] as a matter of law by the testimony of witnesses which may be considered as contradictory thereto. An inference which is supported by the evidence and not opposed to human experience and reason cannot be disturbed by an appellate court. (Rideout v. City of Los Angeles, 185 Cal. 426 [197 P. 74].)  Notwithstanding the testimony of the writers the issue of fact remained for the determination of the jury who were the sole judges of the weight of the testimony and who were not bound to accept testimony as true if they were not convinced of its truth. (Bushnell v. Yoshika Tashiro, 115 Cal. App. 563 [2 PaCal.2d 550].) Uncontradicted denials on the part of employees of appellants did not compel the conclusion on the part of the jury that there had been no copying of plaintiffs' manuscript. In Edwards v. Deutsch Lith. Co. v. Boorman, 15 Fed.2d 35, (C.C.A. 7th) it is said: "Appellee's position, however, is that having explicitly denied that they copied appellants' production and having sworn positively that they got their ideas from other sources and no one having sworn to the contrary, the court was bound to find no copying and therefore no infringement. The cases are numerous where such situations have arisen and the same claim has been made without avail." From many facts shown in evidence, particularly the retention of plaintiffs' manuscript during the period of five months by the person in charge of the production of appellants' picture, the making of numerous suggestions by him in its production and numerous similarities appearing in the two plays, it is manifest that the finding of copying by the jury is supported by the evidence.
 Some of the instructions of the trial court are criticized by appellants, the claim being made that the instructions did not clearly define the material in plaintiffs' manuscript which is protectible. We are satisfied that in the numerous instructions offered by the parties and given by the court the jury was fully and fairly instructed on the subject. However, [32 Cal. App. 2d 563] the court of its own motion gave instruction No. 17 which is doubtless subject to criticism. This instruction is as follows: "You are further instructed that it is claimed by plaintiffs that defendants retained plaintiffs' literary composition in their possession for a period of five months, and became fully informed, and had full knowledge of the contents thereof. In other words, it is claimed that defendants had 'access' to the manuscript, as the law books put it. In this respect, you are advised that if plaintiffs make out a prima facie case of 'access'--in other words, if they prove that the opportunity to copy existed at about the proper time, you must consider such evidence in connection with defendants' evidence that, although having access, they did not acquaint themselves with its contents, and then determine in your minds which evidence preponderates, or has the more convincing force. If the evidence shows a marked resemblance between the original and the alleged infringing work, a presumption of piracy arises, even though there be no eye witness proof of copying, or direct evidence thereof. However, if you believe from all the evidence that, although having access to plaintiffs' manuscript, defendants, or any agent, officer or employee of defendants, did not acquaint themselves with the contents, or the original or novel arrangement, if any, thereof, of plaintiffs' manuscript, you cannot return a verdict in favor of plaintiffs under the issues in this case, but you must under such belief on your part, find for the defendants. In other words, if the evidence on the part of the defendants, which has been received in this case, balances the evidence of plaintiffs in convincing force, or preponderates over the evidence offered by plaintiffs, your verdict must be for the defendants. Manifestly, under the issues in this case, if defendants or their agents or employees, did not know the contents or arrangement of what plaintiffs had written, they could not intentionally pirate or plagiarize the same. Furthermore, if the agents of defendants, in the preparation for screen production of the photoplay 'A Day at the Races', actually used, arranged, or employed any of the themes, words, ideas, or locales of the plaintiffs' scenario 'High Fever', before plaintiffs' scenario was submitted to them, or they became acquainted, if at all, with its contents or arrangements, then plaintiffs' words, ideas, themes or locales were not original, and cannot be protected in this action; but before you can find for defendants, [32 Cal. App. 2d 564] it must appear that they publicly released their photoplay by production or publication upon the screen without knowledge of or before acquaintance with the material or arrangement of its contents as submitted by plaintiffs".
 Complaint is made of that part of the instruction in which the court states "a presumption of piracy arises, even though there be no eye witnesses of copying or direct evidence thereof". Plaintiffs point out that the language criticized is almost identical with the language used in Encyclopedia Britannica Co. v. American Newspaper Assn., 130 Fed. 460, at 464, where the court states: "Substantial identity, or a striking resemblance between the work complained of and that for which protection is claimed, creates a presumption of unlawful copying, which must be overcome by the defendant.' In Copyright Law and Practice by Drone at page 660, the author states: "Identity between the alleged infringing work and copyrighted work raises the presumption that the one was copied from the other." Under the California practice the court, instead of using the word, presumption, should have instructed the jury that it was within their province to draw an inference of piracy if the evidence showed a marked resemblance between the two works. It would not be reasonable to hold, however, that the jury was misled by the use of the word, presumption, as they were clearly told in the same and other instructions that a verdict could not be rendered in favor of plaintiffs unless the jury should find from a preponderance of the evidence that appellants did in fact copy protectible material from plaintiffs' manuscript. Inferences and presumptions are both recognized as indirect evidence (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1957), and the line of demarcation between them is often difficult to draw. To use the language of Justice Thornton in White v. White, 82 Cal. 427, 438 [23 P. 276, 7 L.R.A. 799], the distinction is "sometimes very thin". It seems inconceivable that the jury could have been misled by the use of the word, presumption, instead of the word, inference, when our highest courts have met with difficulty in accurately deciding their use and application. In Mudrick v. Market Street Ry. Co., 11 Cal. 2d 724, 734 [81 PaCal.2d 950, 118 A.L.R. 533], the court was considering an instruction in which the word, presumption, was used instead of the word, inference, in stating the rule of res ipsa loquitur. Mr. Justice Curtis, speaking for the court, pointed out that in [32 Cal. App. 2d 565] such a situation, "no decision has been called to our attention in which a judgment has been reversed by reason of the erroneous use of these words". The court in its opinion further stated that "these terms are often erroneously used interchangeably, and as conveying the same meaning. We find that many lawyers and courts as well make this same mistake. We question whether the ordinary layman, to say nothing of many members of our profession, clearly comprehends the difference in the meaning of these two expressions."
The trend of the latest decisions of reviewing courts, especially since the adoption of section 4 1/2 of article VI of the California Constitution, is to refuse reversals of judgments because of errors in instructions unless it affirmatively appears that the appealing party has suffered substantial injury. We see no occasion for reversing plaintiffs' judgment because of the instructions.

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