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243:. Miller pointed out these similarities were only in his book and not in any of the available public records such as the newspaper accounts and the court transcripts made during the criminal prosecution of Mackle's kidnappers. Miller also testified that the film version copied mistakes in his book. In his book, Miller had used a wrong location for Mackle's father to respond to the kidnappers' demands. The film copied this same error.
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in the trial judges' instructions to the jury. The appellate court found that the judge's jury instructions, which included the statement that the labor of research by an author is protected by copyright, had been given in error. The court noted that plaintiff, over the objection of the defense, had
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land developer. Mackle, suffering from the flu, had been housed at the motel by the
University because the student infirmary had run out of beds due to the flu epidemic. Mackle was driven away in a van and taken to a remote location in the Georgia woods where she was placed in a wooden, coffin-like
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The case opened before a jury in
October 1978. Miller testified that his process for writing the book included research and interviews with all participants. He estimated that he'd spent in excess of 2500 hours in the research and actual writing of the book. He described how Universal City Studios
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The plaintiff's case also included a memo from Merwin Gerard to
William Frye dated March 7, 1972 wherein Gerard described the difficulty he was having in using the materials sent to him by the research department at Universal City Studios. He explained he believed the newspaper stories and trial
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At the close of the trial, the defense requested that the judge include in his jury instructions that " factual matters such as news events, the facts themselves are not copyrightable, but the form of expression of the facts and their arrangement and selection are copyrightable." The plaintiff
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version and contacted Miller and told him he thought it would make a good made-for-television film. Miller gave him a copy of the book. Frye offered Miller $ 15,000 for the film rights. Miller countered that he wanted $ 200,000. The two could not reach an agreement on the money and no deal was
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The judge did include this but also added, "Moreover, if an author in writing a book concerning factual matters engages in research on those matters, his research is copyrightable." The judge based his instruction about allowing copyright protection for a writer's research on
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winner for local reporting, covered the story of Mackle's kidnapping. Later, Miller and Mackle agreed to collaborate on a book about her ordeal. The result was 83 Hours Till Dawn, which was published by
Doubleday in July 1971. The book was serialized in
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correct in denying the defense motion for a new trial. The defense motion argued that a writer's research is not copyrightable. The appeals court agreed, overturned the jury's verdict, and remanded the case back to the district court for a new trial.
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The jury found that defendants had infringed on plaintiff's copyright and awarded him over $ 200,000 in damages and profits. The jury found for the defendants on the question of unfair competition and denied punitive damages.
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transcript would provide the information he needed but those materials had not yet arrived. Gerard said in the letter, "Consequently, all I have to go on––and have been using while waiting––is the book."
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at best confusing, at worst wrong, was given with some reluctance by the trial court, over the strenuous objections of defendants, on the urging by plaintiff, "That's the heart of the case."
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is a case where an appeals court found that although the plaintiff apparently deserved to prevail, it reversed the jury verdict and remanded the case for retrial because it found
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argued, over the objections of the defense, that the jury instructions should also include mention that the writer's research is also copyrightable.
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producer
William Frye contacted him about obtaining the film rights for the book but no money had been exchanged and no agreement had been signed.
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The film, written by screenwriter Merwin Gerard, told the story of
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box, and buried alive. The box contained a crude ventilation system. Three days later, Mackle was rescued by FBI agents.
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Universal City Studios, Inc., American Broadcasting Companies and
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Miller testified to the number of similarities between his book,
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United States
District Court for the Southern District of Florida
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motel room. Mackle was the daughter of Robert Mackle, a wealthy
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premiered the Universal City Studios made-for-television film
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urged the district court judge to include this instruction.
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United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit cases
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Copyright and Factual Works: Is Research Protected?
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Soon after the broadcast, Gene Miller filed suit in
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79:RONEY, HILL and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges.
257:Reyher v. Children's Television Workshop
89:A writer's research is not copyrightable
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474:Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
369:Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
109:Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
21:Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
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209:Post-Newsweek Stations Florida, Inc.
165:and a condensed edition appeared in
259:, 533 F.2d 87, 90 (2nd Cir. 1976).
479:, 58 Wash. L. Rev. 619 (1983).
296:Copyright law of the United States
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174:In February 1972, William Frye, a
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1520:Category:Copyright law by country
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818:International copyright treaties
627:Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
514:Copyright law of North America
125:In December 1968, a 20-year-old
476:, 650 F.2d 1365 (5th Cir. 1981)
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178:television producer, read the
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808:Copyright case law by country
376: (S.D. Fla. 1978). ("
188:American Broadcasting Company
813:Copyright lengths by country
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331: (5th Cir. 1981). ("
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374:460 F. Supp. 984
186:In September 1972, the
677:British Virgin Islands
270:Appeals Court findings
213:copyright infringement
176:Universal City Studios
154:reporter and two-time
133:was kidnapped from an
617:Saint Kitts and Nevis
329:650 F.2d 1365
198:ABC Movie of the Week
1224:United Arab Emirates
227:District Court trial
162:Ladies' Home Journal
66:650 F.2d 1365 (1981)
632:Trinidad and Tobago
527:Antigua and Barbuda
131:Barbara Jane Mackle
1455:Russian Federation
998:Dominican Republic
567:Dominican Republic
347:83 Hours Till Dawn
237:83 Hours Till Dawn
217:unfair competition
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943:South Africa
742:Sint Maarten
722:Saint Martin
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58:23 July 1981
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883:Ivory Coast
854: [
712:Puerto Rico
622:Saint Lucia
572:El Salvador
395:at 985-986.
146:Gene Miller
1535:Categories
1428:Kyrgyzstan
1423:Kazakhstan
1341:Luxembourg
1236:Uzbekistan
1214:Tajikistan
1130:Kazakhstan
1078:Bangladesh
1073:Azerbaijan
919:Mozambique
895:Madagascar
823:by country
707:Montserrat
702:Martinique
697:Guadeloupe
552:Costa Rica
307:References
121:Background
1502:Australia
1329:Lithuania
1204:Sri Lanka
1098:Indonesia
1088:Hong Kong
1052:Venezuela
968:Argentina
692:Greenland
607:Nicaragua
582:Guatemala
453:Miller II
441:Miller II
333:Miller II
1219:Thailand
1189:Pakistan
1162:Mongolia
1157:Malaysia
1020:Honduras
961:Americas
868:Cameroon
657:Anguilla
592:Honduras
562:Dominica
537:Barbados
455:at 1367.
443:at 1368.
429:Miller I
417:Miller I
405:Miller I
393:Miller I
378:Miller I
290:See also
183:signed.
94:Keywords
63:Citation
1495:Oceania
1477:Ukraine
1440:Moldova
1418:Georgia
1406:Belarus
1394:Armenia
1389:Albania
1363:Romania
1307:Ireland
1297:Germany
1280:Belgium
1268:Austria
1174:Myanmar
1145:Lebanon
1040:Uruguay
1003:Ecuador
978:Bolivia
973:Bermuda
931:Senegal
907:Morocco
863:Burundi
687:Curaçao
672:Bonaire
667:Bermuda
597:Jamaica
577:Grenada
532:Bahamas
431:at 988.
419:at 987.
407:at 986.
196:as the
139:Florida
135:Atlanta
55:Decided
1472:Turkey
1462:Serbia
1445:Russia
1373:Sweden
1358:Poland
1317:Latvia
1302:Greece
1292:France
1252:Europe
1125:Jordan
1108:Israel
1025:Panama
988:Canada
983:Brazil
844:Africa
612:Panama
602:Mexico
547:Canada
542:Belize
372:,
355:139676
353:
327:,
276:
219:, and
1435:]
1413:]
1401:]
1368:Spain
1348:]
1336:]
1324:]
1312:Italy
1287:]
1275:]
1243:]
1231:]
1209:Syria
1179:Nepal
1169:]
1152:]
1120:Japan
1115:]
1093:India
1083:China
1047:]
1010:]
993:Chile
938:]
926:]
914:]
902:]
890:]
878:Egypt
873:Ghana
858:]
851:Benin
662:Aruba
587:Haiti
211:, of
35:Court
1450:USSR
1184:Oman
1103:Iran
1061:Asia
1030:Peru
732:Saba
557:Cuba
351:OCLC
148:, a
283:not
1537::
1433:ru
1411:ru
1399:ru
1346:de
1334:ru
1322:ru
1285:fr
1273:de
1241:ru
1229:de
1167:ru
1150:ru
1113:ru
1045:es
1008:es
936:fr
924:ru
912:fr
900:fr
888:fr
856:fr
385:^
380:")
335:")
315:^
215:,
171:.
786:e
779:t
772:v
507:e
500:t
493:v
357:.
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