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Court Extends Movies Copyright Protection to Trailers
In a major victory for movie studios, a U.S. Federal Judge in Video Pipeline v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment Inc. has ruled that movie "trailers" are an art form unto themselves and protected by copyright law and therefore cannot be streamed on the Internet without permission. The ruling gives film companies control over how their trailers are used and in the case of the plaintiff in the suit, Video Pipeline, it means the company cannot sell website previews of Disney films without Disney's permission.
Trailers are thematic short videos consisting of unrelated scenes from a movie shown continuously and often accompanied by a voiceover and background music. Trailers are used as promotional material by movie studios. The plaintiff was seeking a declaratory judgment that its use of existing trailers and creation of its own trailers did not violate copyright law. But the Court found that trailers, although not separately registered, are nonetheless protected by the movie's copyright and rejected the plaintiff's arguments under the "fair use" doctrine. The Court noted that "trailers have become more than advertising material for other products." "They have become valuable entertainment content in their own right.
For a copy of this decision, visit: