Opinion ID: 602079
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Joint control defense

Text: 28 The Distributors claim that they had a right to license home video rights under the joint control provision. Neither co-owners nor exclusive licensees may be sued for copyright infringement. See Oddo v. Ries, 743 F.2d 630, 632-33 (9th Cir.1984); United States Naval Inst. v. Charter Communications, Inc., 936 F.2d 692, 695 (2d Cir.1991). However, a licensee who exceeds the scope of the license may still be liable for infringement. See Oddo, 743 F.2d at 634. 29 The Distributors argue that the joint control provision unambiguously gives them joint control over all dispositions of the Picture. In addition to finding that they had only joint (rather than exclusive) control after the distribution term ended, however, the district court found that joint control and the requirement of obtaining express prior written consent do not apply with respect to distribution rights in the motion picture which were not granted to UA in the first place. 30 Given the limited grant of rights in the Distribution Agreement, it is unlikely that the Producer would have agreed to such a blanket expansion of rights after the distribution term. There are documents in the record which indicate that MGM/UA accepted this interpretation. Thus it was not clear error for the district court to find that the joint control provision did not enable MGM/UA to exploit home video rights in the Picture. 31