Law360, New York ( October 20, 2015, 1:33 PM EDT) -- Can a film director maintain a copyright interest in a film, at least to the extent of his or her contribution? After all, without the director, there would have been no film. According to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the answer is "no." 16 Casa Duse, LLC v. Alex Merkin, 791 F.3d 247 (2nd Cir. 2015). The dispute arose between a film production company, 16 Casa Duse, LLC (Casa), and a director, producer and editor, Alex Merkin (Merkin). In 2010, Casa purchased the rights to a screenplay for a short film titled Heads Up, and offered Merkin the job to direct the film. Casa assembled the cast and crew, and hired additional producers, a script supervisor, a photography director, camera operators, actors, designers and technicians. Casa made alterations to the shooting script, coordinated casting calls, analyzed the characters and their stories, worked with others on location, set design, and wardrobe, and controlled the production schedule. All crewmembers signed independent contractor agreements which characterized their services as "work for hire" and provided that Casa had complete control and ownership of the film. The plot for the copyright dispute took shape when the director declined to sign a similar agreement, despite repeated requests by Casa through the eve of the first day of shooting. The show must go on, so production began without an agreement cast in stone....
