双语动态 |《壮志凌云:特立独行》版权诉讼被驳回,美国法院为什么这么判?

文摘   2024-04-15 01:01   重庆  

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《壮志凌云:特立独行》(Top Gun: Maverick)电影海报


真实的飞行场面,高潮迭起的情节,2022年汤姆·克鲁斯主演了电影《壮志凌云:特立独行》(Top Gun: Maverick),该片全球票房收入达 15 亿美元,根据 Box Office Mojo 的数据,在票房收入最高的电影中排名第 12 位,并且获得多项国际大奖提名。


埃胡德·尤奈 (Ehud Yonay) 1983 年的杂志文章为 1986 年上映的原版《壮志凌云》电影提供了灵感,在续集《壮志凌云:特立独行》于 2022 年上映后,尤奈的家人向网络提起诉讼,指控派拉蒙未能重新谈判在创作电影之前获得新的许可证。4月5日,美国加利福尼亚州中区地区法官珀西·安德森驳回了此案,美国法院为何做出此判定呢?


PART.01
背景 Background


双方探讨的焦点在于“Copyright Infringement”(版权侵权)主题,根据美国地方法院加利福尼亚州中部地区民事会议记录记载,法院对该部分分析如下:

依据骑士案判例:
“To establish a successful copyright infringement claim, a plaintiff must show that he or she owns the copyright and that defendant copied protected elements of the work.”

“要成功提出版权侵权索赔,原告必须证明:他或她拥有版权,被告复制了该作品的受保护元素。”


对于上述权利,案件双方没有存在异议,相反,双方对issue of substantial similarity(实质相似性问题)存在异议。


记录原文:

“At summary judgment, courts apply only the extrinsic test; the intrinsic test, which examines an ordinary person’s subjective impressions of the similarities between two works, is exclusively the province of the jury.” Funky Films, Inc. v. Time Warner Ent. Co., L.P., 462 F.3d 1072, 1077 (9th Cir. 2006), overruled on other grounds by Skidmore, 952 F.3d 1051. The extrinsic test is an “objective comparison of specific expressive elements,” which “‘focuses on articulable similarities between the plot, themes, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, characters, and sequence of events in two works.’”

为了确定是否有两个作品基本相似,法院使用了包含外在成分与内在成分的测试。内在测试,主要检查一个普通人的主观印象 两部作品之间的相似之处完全是由评审团来进行判定;外在测试是特定表达方式的客观“元素”比较,“侧重于情节、主题、对话、情绪、两部作品中的背景、节奏、人物和事件顺序。


美国第九巡回法庭(The Ninth Circuit) 


为了应用外在测试,法院首先必须区分受保护的和不受保护的元素,以及询问可以保护元素两部作品是基本相似。这个过程被称为“filtering ”(过滤),根据骑士案“版权法只保护思想的表达,而不保护思想本身”。并且根据伯克奇案判例,“作为法律问题,某些形式文学表达不受复制保护。” 此外根据科夫案,如果原告不能满足外在测试的,那必然会在简易判决中失败,因为陪审团如果没有外在和内在测试的证据,就不会发现实质性的相似性。


PART.02
外部测试 The extrinsic test


以下是法院所做部分外部测试,分为ABCDE五个部分:

A. Plot, Sequence of Events, and Pacing 情节、事件顺序和节奏

The plots, sequences of events, and pacing of the Works are largely dissimilar
两部作品的情节、事件顺序和节奏都大不相同。

Although the plots of both the Article and Sequel feature Top Gun and various graduates and instructors, Top Gun is a real fighter pilot school and the graduates and instructors mentioned in the Article are real people (i.e., Yogi and Possum). Those factual elements are not protected by copyright law. See Shaw, 919 F.2d at 1356. And while both Works involve fighter  pilots training and embarking on missions, those general plot ideas are also not protected. See Cavalier, 297 F.3d at 823.


虽然两人的剧情文章和续集以《壮志凌云》为特色以及各类毕业生和教练,Top Gun 是真正的战斗机飞行员学校和毕业生和导师,文章中提到的都是真实的人,这些事实要素并不受版权法保护,参见索肖案。虽然两部作品都涉及战斗机飞行员训练和执行任务时内容,但总体情节想法不受保护。


《壮志凌云:特立独行》(Top Gun: Maverick)剧情照


C. Dialogue and Characters 对话和人物
The dialogue in the Sequel is not similar to that in the Article. As an initial matter, the dialogue in the Article is unprotected because it is presented as real statements made by actual people. See Corbello v. Valli, 974 F.3d 965, 984 (9th Cir. 2020) (“The dialogue is held out by the Work as a historically accurate depiction of a real conversation. The asserted facts do not become protectable by copyright.

续集中的对话与文章中的对话并不相似。文章中的对话不受保护,因为它是以真实的陈述形式呈现人们。根据科贝洛诉讼案,“该作品中的对话是对真实对话的历史准确描述。所声称的事实并不成为受版权保护的对象”。


《壮志凌云:特立独行》(Top Gun: Maverick)人物对话


Additionally, the only phrase Plaintiffs identify as appearing in both Works is the phrase “Fight’s on,” which is not entitled to copyright protection. See Narell v. Freeman, 872F.2d 907, 911 (9th Cir. 1989) (“Ordinary phrases are not entitled to copyright protection.”); see also Olson v. Nat’l Broad. Co., 855 F.2d 1446, 1450 (9th Cir. 1988) (explaining that “extended similarity of dialogue” is “needed to support a claim of substantial similarity”). To the extent there are similarities between the characters in the Works, the characters in the Article are real people and are therefore not protected by copyright law. See Corbello, 974 F.3d at 976 (“A character based on a historical figure is not protected for copyright purposes.”).

并且作品中出现的唯一短语“Fight's on”不享有版权保护。根据纳雷尔诉弗里曼案(“普通短语无权版权保护”),以及奥尔森案(解释说“延长对话的相似性”是“需要支持实质性相似性的主张”)。并且两部作品中的人物之间存在相似之处,文章中的人物是真实的人,因此不受版权法保护,参见科尔贝罗案(“基于历史人物的人物是不受版权保护”)。


PART.03
结论 Conclusion


同时在B. Theme and Mood (主题和情节)D. Setting(环境)E. Selection and Arrangement(选择安排)上两部作品都无明显实质性相似,据此,法院得出结论:


The Court concludes that the Article and Sequel are not substantially similar under the extrinsic test

该文章和续篇在外在测试下

并不具有实质相似性

any overlapping factual similarities aren’t protected by copyright law

法院坚持“任何重叠的事实相似之处均不受版权法保护”的观点


《好莱坞报道》The Hollywood REPORTER认为该案件打破了这样一种观念:如果原作是基于原始材料,那么制片厂必须重新获得续集的故事版权,这对于美国影视行业版权有着重要影响,目前该判决已引起好莱坞与美国版权业的广泛关注。

原文引用:

The order could undermine the notion that studios have to reacquire the rights to stories for a sequel if the original was based on source material.
Paramount Wins ‘Top Gun’ Copyright Lawsuit


加利福尼亚州中部地区法庭民事会议记录




EDN

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