Williams v. Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Inc.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR DISMISSAL AND GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on two motions brought by Defendant. First, Defendant moves to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Second, Defendant moves for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication. Having fully considered the moving and responding papers and oral argument, the Court denies the first motion and grants the second motion.

I. Facts

Plaintiffs own the copyright to “Mr. Bill,” a popular character from the late 1970s that debuted on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and has recently resurfaced on the FOX Family Channel. Mr. Bill, a funny looking clay figure, was famous for getting into accidents that would seemingly destroy or disfigure the character and for his famous moniker “ohhhhh nooooo!” Fortunately, since Mr. Bill was made of clay, he was never seriously hurt, and can continue to amuse American television viewers.

Defendant CBS is a national television network which has a contract to televise the annual football games between the United States Military…