Stonesifer

This is an action by Myrtle Louise Stonesifer, also known as Louise Howard, a resident of the State of California, against the defendant, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, et al., a foreign corporation, for alleged infringement of a copyright. The plaintiff alleges she originated, devised and created a certain dramatic composition under the title, “Women’s Hotel”; that the said dramatic composition has been in manuscript form and unpublished ; and that the same has been duly copyrighted.

Plaintiff further alleges that the defendant corporation produced and released a motion picture play under the title, “Hotel for Women”, which contains a substantial reproduction of her title, plot, idea, dramatic situations, and characters of her play, and are advertising that the same is adapted from a story by Elsa Maxwell and Kathryn Scola without her consent, and in violation of her copyright. The defendant denies generally and specifically the allegations of the complaint, and alleges that the photoplay, “Hotel for Women”, is wholly original and is its sole and exclusive property.

It is necessary to summarize briefly the story as found in the play, and the story as exhibited in the…