In Re Marriage of Worth
Opinion
Opinion
Racanelli, J.
This appeal presents the novel issue whether the marital community has an interest in a copyright. We conclude that it does, and we affirm the judgment.
Facts
During the marriage, appellant husband wrote and published several books, including two books on trivia: The Complete Unabridged Super Trivia Encyclopedia (1977) and The Complete Super Trivia Encyclopedia, Volume II (1981). In their 1982 divorce decree, husband and wife agreed to divide the royalties from those books equally.
In 1984, husband filed an action in federal court against the producers of the board game, “Trivial Pursuit,” alleging copyright infringement claiming that certain questions used in the board game were plagiarized from husband’s books. Thereafter, wife sought an order from the superior court declaring that she would be entitled to one-half of any proceeds derived from that lawsuit based upon the terms of the interlocutory decree. The trial court granted wife’s request and ordered husband restrained from disbursing the proceeds of any verdict or settlement until wife’s portion was accounted for. Husband now appeals.