Klekas

Plaintiff Harry John Klekas instituted this action against defendants EMI Films, Inc., et al. to recover damages allegedly arising out of the unauthorized use of his unpublished literary work entitled “The Fields of Discontent.” The complaint generally avers that plaintiff’s work served as the basis for the production of the critically acclaimed motion picture “The Deer Hunter” and the subsequent publication of a paperback book of the same title. Following the completion of discovery by the litigants, the trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. This appeal follows. We affirm.

After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we conclude, as did the court below, that a substantial portion of plaintiff’s case based on state law has been preempted by federal law and as to the portion of the case which is cognizable by state law there exists no factual dispute.

There is little conflict in the evidence. Since this is, however, an appeal from a summary judgment, where such conflict appears in the papers submitted in support of and in opposition to the motion, we resolve those conflicts in favor of the nonmoving…