Faulkner v Woody Allen

Is there something in the water just lately?

Anyway, the Faulkner estate is suing Woody Allen (and about 100 other people who may have 'profited') for the use of a (paraphrased) attributed line in Midnight in Paris.

Said line:

The past is not dead. Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.

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My paper - which I can't seem to find online, but hey, states that the estate is upset about the fact the quote is slightly out too (Faulkner said 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.') The lawsuit (the paper says) claims that the use of the quote and Faulkner's name is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake and/or to deceive the infringing film's viewers as to a perceived <snip> association between William Faulkner and Sony. oh and, Sony's actions in distributing the Infringing Film were malicious, fraudulent, deliberate and/or willful..

My paper also notes this seems curious as copyright doesn't usually apply to fair use of quotations,and esp in the US, free speech laws is going to make this tricky.


Thoughts? I mean, this seems...well, bizarre to me. They used one line, yes (should be covered under fair use? Not sure) but it is also attributed to Faulkner, not claimed as their own line. And I'm not sure how Woody Allen's screenplay quoting him implies any relationship with Sony...or why the other 100 people (seemingly exhibitors who profited from screenings) are in trouble too.

ETA they're also suing the Washington Post for using a quote in an ad (not sure if that one is attributed, but it seems so)

jjdebenedictis said:

I think the Faulkner estate is currently run by greedy people who don't understand copyright law and fair use. That's really weird.

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In some ways that's good - I thought I had totally the wrong end of the stick or something.