AMC FILM HOLDINGS LLC, Plaintiff, -v.- MAX J. ROSENBERG, REARGUARD PRODUCTIONS, INC., and TV MATTERS, Defendants., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36961

Summary

The licensee claimed that the court lacked jurisdiction over the subsequent assignee's claims. The court held that it had proper jurisdiction over the subsequent assignee's claims because the copyrights to the motion pictures were filed by their original owner, as required under 17 U.S.C.S. § 411(a), and 17 U.S.C.S. § 205(d) no longer required that the assignment be recorded in order for the subsequent assignee to commence its action. The court further held that the subsequent assignee established its ownerships in the copyrights to the motion pictures because the subsequent assignee submitted signed contracts as proof for all of the ownership transfers, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.S. § 204(a), and demonstrated that all of the parties to the transfers agreed that they were valid. The court then held that there were disputed factual issues regarding whether the licensee copied and distributed the motion pictures without authorization because, although the licensee was not entitled to a good ...