Also known as: motion picture · audiovisual works
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An exhibition of a motion picture or similar aggregate communication is a single publication.
Midwest Airlines screens a documentary film once at a company event attended by hundreds of employees. The film accuses Miguel Mendoza of financial misconduct during a prior project. Miguel sues the airline for defamation based on that single screening. The court treats the exhibition as one aggregate communication and permits only one action for all resulting harm.
Melanie Morris records several motion pictures broadcast on network television using a Betamax recorder purchased from Sony. The studios that own the copyrights sue Sony claiming contributory infringement. The Court holds that the sale of recording equipment does not constitute contributory infringement when substantial noninfringing uses exist.
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Mustafa Mahmoud records a rap parody that borrows the melody and lyrics of a song from a popular motion picture soundtrack. The copyright owner sues for infringement. The Court analyzes the four fair-use factors and holds that a parody can qualify as fair use even when it copies the heart of the original work.
Malcolm McKinley distributes Grokster software that users employ to share copies of copyrighted motion pictures. Studios sue Grokster for secondary copyright infringement. The Court holds that a distributor is liable when the product is promoted with the clear intent to encourage infringement.
Mason McCarthy purchases lawfully made copies of motion pictures abroad and resells them in the United States. The copyright owner sues for infringement. The Court holds that the first-sale doctrine applies to copies lawfully made abroad and permits their importation and resale without the copyright owner's permission.
Marathon Logistics licenses motion pictures to a network that heavily edits the films for broadcast. The creators sue the network for distortion of their work. The court recognizes that substantial editing can give rise to a claim for false light or copyright infringement when the edits alter the original expression.
Yes. Under the single-publication rule any one exhibition of a motion picture is treated as a single aggregate communication. All showings that occur as part of the same coordinated release therefore give rise to only one defamation action in which the plaintiff may recover all damages suffered in every jurisdiction.
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A final judgment on the merits for or against the plaintiff on a single publication bars any other damages action between the same parties arising from that same exhibition. The plaintiff must recover all harm caused by the motion picture in the first suit.
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No. The single-publication rule focuses on the exhibitor's act of releasing the aggregate communication rather than on each recipient's access. Individual viewings therefore do not generate separate defamation claims.
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A coordinated simultaneous release in multiple formats constitutes one aggregate communication. The single-publication rule therefore limits the plaintiff to one defamation action in which all worldwide damages may be recovered.
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…Studios, Inc., and Walt Disney Productions, produce and hold the copyrights on a substantial number of motion pictures and other audiovisual works. In the current marketplace, they can exploit their rights in these works in a number of ways: by authorizing theatrical exhibitions, by licensing limited showings on cable and network…