Woody Allen's 2011 film Midnight in Paris has been cleared of copyright infringement by a federal judge in Mississippi following claims it violated the copyright of William Faulkner's 1950 book, Requiem for a Nun.
The case, brought by Faulkner's estate, concerned a nine-word quote from Requiem. It was argued that Midnight's distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, had paraphrased the quote in an unlicensed use without providing suitable credit to Faulkner.
In the film, Owen Wilson's character says: "The past is not dead. Actually, it's not even past." In Requiem for a Nun, Faulkner wrote: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Faulkner Literary Rights argued this amounted to copyright, but Sony countered by claiming de minimis and "fair use".
In his ruling, US District Judge Michael Mills noted: "The copyrighted work is a serious piece of literature lifted for use in a speaking part in a movie comedy, as opposed to a printed portion of a novel printed in a newspaper, or a song's melody sampled in another song. This transmogrification in medium tips this factor in favour of transformative, and thus, fair use."
He added that the quote's use in the film didn't harm the market for Faulkner's work and most likely would be of benefit to the estate: "The film indeed helped the plaintiff and the market value of Requiem if it had any effect at all."
Lee Caplin from the Faulkner estate commented: "We are obviously quite disappointed. We think it is going to be very bad for artists everywhere. Right now, our decision is to reconvene and analyze our next moves."
Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson as a screenwriter who travels back in time to meet literary greats. It was a surprise hit at the box office, becoming Allen's highest grossing film of all time. It also stars Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard and Michael Sheen.
