Re: Loss of Amos and Andy copyright?

Lee Hamovitz <ldh[_at_]loop.com> wrote:
>
> A few years ago, I believe, there was a court decision, (possibly
> Supreme) regarding CBS, Inc. losing copyright to the old "Amos and
> Andy" characters. I think CBS claimed they felt the shows were
> racially offensive, so they kept them locked up in the vault, and
> sued when a theatrical stage producer tried to revive the characters.
> The court, I believe, ruled that CBS lost rights to the characters
> because they had done nothing over the years to proclaim their rights.
> In other words, they should have actively said "we own this and
> purposely aren't using it."
>
> My question, this is all fuzzy and deep in my memory and I'm not sure
> I'm not imagining all this. I've searched all over and can't find
> anything. Is there an actual case like this? Does anyone have a
> citation? Please respond to me personally, as well as the list.

Silverman v. CBS, Inc., 870 F.2d 40 (2d Cir. 1989), cert. denied,: copyrights were not renewed and trademark rights were found to be abandoned by more than twenty years of nonuse.

Rob Kasunic
rkasunic[_at_]kasunic.com Received on Mon Apr 27 1998 - 20:29:13 GMT