Film-Makers’ Cooperative Copyright Infringement Class Action

New American Cinema Group, Inc. (NACG), which does business as the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, is a nonprofit custodian of some 5,000 avant-garde and experimental films by around 900 filmmakers. The complaint for this class action brings suit against NACG and its agent, MM Serra, for copyright infringement, among other things, pertaining to a film in its care. It asks for an injunction and monetary relief for filmmakers who, it alleges, are deprived of full rights over their works and even of the right to withdraw their works from NACG.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Injunctive Relief Class is all persons whose work was used by NACG in violation of their exclusive copyrights without a license during the applicable class period.
• The Monetary Relief Class is all persons whose work was used by NACG in violation of their exclusive copyrights without a license or proper compensation during the applicable class period and/or who were improperly charged dues by NACG.

The plaintiff in this case, Katrina Martin, holds the copyright on a film called “Hanafuda/Jasper Johns” which was registered on January 6, 1984. The work, on celluloid film, is held in the custody of NACG.

In or around October 2019, the complaint alleges, NACG made digital versions of the film, without Martin’s knowledge or input, rented them to the Carnegie Museum of Art, and permitted them to be publicly performed for an exhibit entitled, “An Art of Changes: Jasper Johns Prints, 1960-2018.”

The complaint faults NACG in a number of ways. First, it says, the digital versions were taken from a 16mm print, which the complaint says is “less sharp than the author’s film original, with color that has shifted and faded over time. Color is central to the content of the Film, which observes an artist, Jasper Johns, as he layers color to make silkscreen prints.”

Color is just one consideration in the transfer of film to a digital medium, the complaint alleges, claiming that NACG should not be making these kinds of decisions without input from Martin. Because of NACG’s choices, it says, “members of the public believe that the Film is lower quality than it actually is.”

In addition, NACG set the rental price of the film at $200, without consultation with Martin, even though Martin claims she usually charges $850 for a similar screening.

Finally, the complaint alleges that when NACG is confronted with these kinds of situations, it claims the filmmakers owe them back dues or fees and refuses to give them royalties they are due, or even to allow them to withdraw their works, until they pay up. The complaint alleges that Martin “was informed of the existence of dues, and that she was allegedly $1,470 in arrears, only after she complained about NACG’s copyright infringement of her works.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Copyright or Other Intellectual Property
Tags: Breach of Contract, Copyright Infringement, Fraud