Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group, Inc.

Summary

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that The Seinfeld Aptitude Test copied protectable expression from the Seinfeld television series and was substantially similar to the copyrighted work. The court rejected the defendants’ fair-use defense, concluding that the commercial trivia book was not sufficiently transformative and infringed Castle Rock’s copyrights. The court affirmed the district court’s judgment, including damages and a permanent injunction.

Holdings

1. The Seinfeld Aptitude Test unlawfully copied protectable expression from the Seinfeld television series. Because the book copied 643 fragments from the continuous series and drew on the series' fictional characters, events, and dialogue, the copying was quantitatively and qualitatively sufficient to constitute substantial similarity and actionable infringement.
2. The Seinfeld Aptitude Test was not a fair use of the Seinfeld television series. All four statutory factors, considered together in light of copyright's purposes, weighed against defendants or otherwise supported Castle Rock.
3. Summary judgment was appropriate because the material facts concerning copying and the fair-use factors were undisputed and the legal conclusions could be resolved by the court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether The Seinfeld Aptitude Test copied a quantitatively and qualitatively sufficient amount of protectable expression from the Seinfeld television series to establish actionable copyright infringement.
2. Whether The Seinfeld Aptitude Test was a fair use of the Seinfeld television series under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
3. Whether summary judgment was appropriate where the material facts were undisputed and the copyright and fair-use questions could be resolved as matters of law.

Disposition

affirmed