## Facts

- In 1986 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jonathan Morrill created an “original music video/documentary” titled *Video Marked* depicting Billy Corgan and his then band, The Marked.
- The project’s stated purpose was to create music videos to help Corgan and his bandmates start their careers; Corgan and the band stayed at Morrill’s home during production.
- Morrill handled direction, production, and editing; Corgan contributed music, performances, and on-screen artistic expression captured in the video.
- *Video Marked* was shown at clubs as a promotional tool for the band.
- After Corgan left Florida later in 1986, Morrill believed a copy of *Video Marked* was missing but did not confront Corgan; Morrill did not pursue further use of the video until 1996, when Corgan declined to market it.
- In 1994, Corgan, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Virgin Records released *Vieuphoria*, a 90-minute video containing about 45 seconds of footage from *Video Marked*.
- Morrill (and J.M. Productions) sued for copyright infringement and related state-law claims, asserting sole ownership of *Video Marked*; defendants argued Corgan was a joint author and co-owner.

## Issues

1. Whether Corgan was a joint author of *Video Marked* under 17 U.S.C. § 101.
2. If *Video Marked* was a joint work, whether defendants’ reuse of footage in *Vieuphoria* could constitute copyright infringement against Morrill.
3. Whether Morrill’s related state-law claims could survive given co-ownership principles and federal copyright preemption.

## Decision

- The court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
- The court held Corgan was a joint author (and therefore co-owner) of *Video Marked*.
- Because a co-owner cannot be liable to another co-owner for copyright infringement based on exploitation of the joint work, the infringement claim failed as a matter of law.
- Summary judgment was entered for defendants on the action, including the related claims.

## Legal Principles

- A “joint work” is one “prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.
- Joint authorship requires (1) an independently copyrightable contribution and (2) intent, at the time of creation, to create a coauthored unitary work.
- Each joint author is a co-owner of the copyright in the joint work.
- A copyright co-owner generally cannot sue another co-owner for infringement for using or licensing the joint work; the usual remedy between co-owners is an accounting, not infringement damages.
- State-law claims based on rights equivalent to those protected by copyright may be preempted when they rest on the same alleged wrongful copying.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that *Video Marked* was a joint work because Corgan contributed copyrightable musical and performance expression and the project was created as a merged promotional video, so Corgan’s later reuse of brief footage in *Vieuphoria* could not constitute infringement against Morrill, warranting summary judgment for defendants.


Morrill v. Smashing Pumpkins, 157 F. Supp. 2d 1120 (C.D. Cal. 2001)