Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-1992

Abstract

Defendants-appellants, Allied Vision, Ltd. and New Line Cinema Corporation, appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Motley, J.) granting a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff-appellee Stephen King in connection with King's claims under the Lanham Act and New York law. King, who is the author of such best-selling horror thrillers as The Shining, Carrie and Salem's Lot, contended that Allied and New Line falsely designated him as the originator of the motion picture "The Lawnmower Man," which was produced by Allied and distributed in North America by New Line. The injunction, which prohibits any use of King's name "on or in connection with" the movie, encompasses two forms of credit to which King objected: (i) a possessory credit, describing the movie as "Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man," and (ii) a "based upon" credit, representing that the movie is "based upon" a short story by King. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court's order to the extent that it prohibits use of the possessory credit, but reverse the order to the extent that it prohibits use of the "based upon" credit.

Comments

76 F.2d 824 (1992)

Stephen KING, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

INNOVATION BOOKS, A DIVISION OF INNOVATIVE CORPORATION, Defendant, Allied Vision, Ltd., New Line Cinema Corporation, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 2169, 2170, Dockets 92-7713, 92-7731.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued August 10, 1992.

Decided October 1, 1992.

New York Law School location: File #1510, Box #130

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