## Facts

- Karen L. Erickson, a playwright and founder of Trinity Theatre in Evanston, Illinois, wrote and developed three plays while working with Trinity: *Much Ado About Shakespeare*, *The Theatre Time Machine*, and *Prairie Voices: Tales from Illinois*.
- Trinity actors and members participated in rehearsals and offered suggestions and performance input; Erickson compiled, revised, and exercised final editorial control over the scripts.
- Trinity initially treated Erickson as the author and entered into a licensing arrangement paying her royalties for performances; royalty payments stopped in November 1990.
- Erickson left Trinity in January 1991 and obtained federal copyright registrations for the three plays and two videotapes.
- Trinity continued performing the plays and using the videotapes after the relationship ended.
- Erickson sued in federal court asserting copyright infringement and related claims, seeking injunctive and other relief.
- A magistrate judge recommended enjoining Trinity from performing the plays but not from using the videotapes; the district court enjoined Trinity from performing the plays and using the videotapes.
- Trinity appealed the preliminary injunction, arguing that its members were joint authors and that the injunction was improper.

## Issues

1. What test governs “joint work” authorship under 17 U.S.C. § 101, including whether each alleged co-author must contribute independently copyrightable expression.
2. Whether, under the correct joint authorship standard and the preliminary injunction factors, Erickson showed a sufficient likelihood of success to justify enjoining Trinity’s performances and videotape use.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction.
- The court adopted the “copyrightable subject matter” test for joint authorship: a joint author must (1) intend that contributions be merged into a unitary work and (2) contribute expression that is itself copyrightable.
- Under that standard, Trinity’s members were not joint authors of the plays because their rehearsal input and performance choices were not shown to be independently copyrightable expression.
- Because Trinity’s videotape arguments depended on the same joint authorship theory, the injunction properly extended to the videotapes as well.
- The district court did not err in finding Erickson likely to succeed on the merits and in granting injunctive relief.

## Legal Principles

- A “joint work” requires both intent to create a merged work and qualifying authorship by each putative co-author.
- For joint authorship, each contributor must add independently copyrightable expression; collaboration, ideas, suggestions, editorial feedback, or performance interpretations, without more, do not suffice.
- Copyright protects expression rather than ideas; noncopyrightable contributions cannot confer co-authorship status in the resulting work.
- Where a plaintiff shows likely ownership and infringement and defenses rest on an incorrect legal standard, a preliminary injunction may issue to prevent continued unauthorized exploitation, including of derivative recordings tied to the underlying works.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that joint authorship demands independently copyrightable contributions by each claimed co-author, rejected Trinity’s collaboration-based theory, and affirmed an injunction barring Trinity from performing Erickson’s plays and using related videotapes.


Erickson v. Trinity Theatre, Inc., 13 F.3d 1061 (7th Cir. 1994)