Page:Twin Books v. Walt Disney.pdf/7

 fair to the owner of a subsequent United States copyright.

Disney is correct that publication in a foreign country with a notice of United States copyright secures United States copyright protection, and that a copyright thereby secured, endures for 28 years from the date it is first published with notice of United States copyright. In the 1909 Act, Congress offered foreign authors the same protection it offered American authors, but only upon compliance with the Act’s formalities. However, Disney cites no authority, nor could it, for the proposition that publication abroad without notice of copyright secures protection under the 1909 Copyright Act. To the contrary, the clear language of section 10 of the 1909 Act provides that an author “may secure copyright for his work by publication thereof with the notice of copyright required by this title.” There is absolutely no way to interpret that language to mean that an author may secure copyright protection for his work by publishing it without any notice of copyright. Additionally, to so argue is a complete reversal of Disney’s alternative argument that Bambi fell into the public domain in 1923 when it was published without the statutorily required notice of copyright.

Therefore, we reverse the district court’s finding that the copyright for Bambi was secured and commenced in 1923; rather we find that the initial copyright for Bambi was secured and commenced in 1926, when it was published with the notice of copyright required by the 1909 Act.

Having found that the initial copyright was not secured and did not commence until 1926 leads to the undisputable additional finding that Ms. Wyler’s failure to renew the copyright in 1951, within 28 years from 1923, did not result in Bambi falling into the United States public domain in 1951. There is no dispute that if the initial copyright did not commence until 1926, as we have determined, Ms. Wyler’s 1954 renewal was timely and in compliance with the United States copyright laws. Under the 1909 Act, the initial copyright endured for 28 years from the date it was secured. Being secured in 1926, the initial copyright would have expired in 1954 had it not been renewed, which it was. Therefore, we also reverse the district court’s findings that the 1954 renewal of the Bambi copyright was untimely and that Bambi fell into the public domain in 1951.

Because the initial Bambi copyright was secured and commenced in 1926, and was timely renewed in 1954, we do not reach the issues of whether a 1960 Presidential Proclamation saves an otherwise untimely renewal under the 1909 Copyright Act or whether the doctrine of licensee estoppel applies in a copyright case.

We reverse the district court’s findings that the initial Bambi copyright was secured and commenced in 1923, that the 1954 renewal of the copyright was untimely, and that Bambi fell into the public domain in 1951. Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment in favor of the Defendants. The cause is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. REVERSED AND REMANDED.