Opinion ID: 755387
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Decisionmaking Authority

Text: 35 An important indicator of authorship is a contributor's decisionmaking authority over what changes are made and what is included in a work. See, e.g., Erickson, 13 F.3d at 1071-72 (an actor's suggestion of text does not support a claim of co-authorship where the sole author determined whether and where such contributions were included in the work); see also Maurel, 271 F. at 214-15 (claimant had a contractual right to control the contents of the opera). 36 The district court determined that Larson retained and intended to retain at all times sole decision-making authority as to what went into [Rent ]. In support of its conclusion, the court relied upon Thomson's statement that she was flattered that [Larson] was asking [her] to contribute actual language to the text and found that this statement demonstrated that even Thomson understood that the question whether any contribution she might make would go into the script was within Mr. Larson's sole and complete discretion. 21 Moreover, as the court recognized, the November agreement between Larson and the NYTW expressly stated that Larson had final approval over all changes to Rent and that all such changes would become Larson's property. 22 37