Russell

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This action for copyright infringement comes before this court on a motion for summary judgment based upon the following undisputed facts.

In 1913, George Bernard Shaw registered a copyright on his stage play, “Pygmalion”, which copyright was renewed in 1941. It was originally due to expire in 1969, but it has been extended by an Act of Congress and is currently in effect. George Bernard Shaw died in 1950 and the current proprietors of the copyright are the legatees under his will, public trustees for the British Museum, the National Gallery of Ireland and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

In 1938, the author licensed the production and distribution of a movie to be based on his play on terms which do not appear in the record. This movie was produced by Gabriel Pascal and starred Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard. The film was copyrighted by Metro, Goldwyn, and Mayer and Loew’s, Inc., but in 1966 this copyright was allowed to expire. When and if the license from George Bernard Shaw to M.G.M. expired is not disclosed. In any event, in 1971, the copyright proprietors of the play granted a license to Janus Films, Inc. to distribute the film. Janus had purchased…