Effects Associates, Inc. v. Larry Cohen

908 F.2d 555 1990 Copr.L.Dec. P 26,605 , 15 U.S.P.Q.2d 1559 EFFECTS ASSOCIATES, INC., Plaintiff-counter-defendant-Appellant, v. Larry COHEN; Larco Productions, Inc.; New World Entertainment, Defendants-counter-claimants-Appellees. No. 88-6455. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 7, 1990. Decided July 20, 1990. John Blair Overton, Sausalito, Cal., for plaintiff-counter-defendant-appellant. Vincent Cox, Leopold, Petrich & Smith, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-counter-claimants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before CANBY, KOZINSKI and LEAVY, Circuit Judges. KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge: 1 What we have here is a failure to compensate. Larry Cohen, a low-budget horror movie mogul, paid less than the agreed price for special effects footage he had commissioned from Effects Associates. Cohen then used this footage without first obtaining a written license or assignment of the copyright; Effects sued for copyright infringement. We consider whether a transfer of copyright without a written agreement, an arrangement apparently not uncommon in the motion picture industry, conforms with…