Copyright Troubles Continue to Hinder Buck Rogers Movie

Superhero blockbusters seem like the surest thing in movies these days with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice taking in almost $450 million from the worldwide box office in its first weekend. So it makes sense that Sony and Warner Bros. have shown preliminary interest in financing filmmaker’s Don Murphy’s attempt to create a Buck Rogers movie. But Murphy is not sure the Rogers story has entered the public domain, and a federal court recently held that it cannot tell him whether it has until he has already started making the movie. Rogers, a World War I veteran who wakes up from suspended animation centuries into the future, was one of the earliest mainstream comic strip hits, appearing in a radio series and later two TV shows. Author Phillip Nowan released the first novella referencing Rogers, “Armageddon 2419 A.D.,” in 1928, and he died in 1940.

The novella’s copyright expired in 1956, and nobody ever renewed it. And even the most generous, modern U.S. copyright laws only protect a copyrighted work for the life of the author plus 70 years. But the Dille Family Trust, associated with John F. Dille who published Nowan’s works, still contends that Murphy needs a license to pursue the Rogers movie’s production. Major film studios, therefore, have been cautious to fund production without assurances that a copyright violation would not occur.

So Murphy filed a complaint against the trust, seeking a declaratory judgment stating his movie would not be in violation of the Dill Family Trust’s purported copyright. But last week, a federal judge held that because the movie’s production has not begun, Murphy’s complaint lacked the “immediacy” or “reality” necessary to sustain the litigation. The judge could not determine “when, if ever,” Murphy might infringe on a copyright.

“[T]he amended complaint does not contain specific, or even approximate, allegations about when plaintiff could begin film production, let alone release the allegedly infringing film, assuming a declaratory judgment is entered in plaintiff’s favor,” the district judge stated in her decision.

Thus, just like Buck Rogers, Murphy’s movie may remain in a state of suspended animation for the foreseeable future.

Sources: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/03/23/buck-rogers-film-stymied-by-copyright-issues/?utm_content=buffer005e7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer http://boingboing.net/2015/10/16/buck-rogers-and-the-copyright.html http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-rejects-film-producers-bid-877683?platform=hootsuite

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