(1951) Tags: Fox
Curtis v. 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.
In 1944 plaintiff published and copyrighted a book titled “Hey, Mac! You’re in the Navy Now.” On February 23, 1951, defendant released a motion picture titled “U.S.S. Teakettle.” On March 8, 1951, defendant changed the title of the picture to “You’re in the Navy Now.”
The complaint was in two counts: the first was based on unfair competition; the second was based on unauthorized use of the title of plaintiff’s book. The reasonable value of plaintiff’s title “You’re in the Navy Now” for use in motion pictures was $100,000, but by reason of defendant’s use of the title it was rendered valueless and plaintiff had been damaged in that amount.