Page:Cadence Industries v. Ringer.pdf/1



Kenyon & Kenyon Reilly Carr & Chapin, New York City, for plaintiffs; Charles R. Brainard, Stuart J. Sinder, New York City, of counsel.

Robert B. Fiske, Jr., U. S. Atty., for the Southern District of New York, New York City, for defendants; John M. O’Connor, Asst. U. S. Atty., Richard E. Glasgow, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

CONNER, District Judge:

This action to compel the Register of Copyrights and the Copyright Office to register plaintiffs’ claims to renewal and extension of the copyright in each of a series of comic books published by plaintiffs’ predecessors, is the culmination of a ten-year struggle.

The controversy centers upon a question of first impression concerning the construction of the copyright renewal statute, 17 U.S.C. § 24, specifically, whether a copyright proprietor may, in its renewal application, identify the copyrighted work as both a “periodical, cyclopedic or other composite work” and as a “work made for hire,” or whether these categories are mutually exclusive and contradictory and, if so, whether the Register has the authority to refuse registration.

There being no dispute as to the controlling facts, the action was submitted for decision on a stipulation of facts and on legal memoranda.