## Facts

- Twentieth Century-Fox produced and distributed *The Iron Curtain*, a film depicting espionage attributed to Soviet representatives.
- The film’s opening credits listed “Music — From The Selected Works of the Soviet Composers — Dmitry Shostakovich, Serge Prokofieff, Aram Khachaturian, Nicholai Miaskovsky — Conducted by Alfred Newman.”
- Music attributed to the composers was played incidentally as background for approximately 45 minutes of the film’s 87-minute running time.
- One composer’s name was spoken once in a scene where a character selects and plays a record; the reference was incidental and suggested recognition of the recording, not participation in the film.
- For purposes of the motion, it was conceded that all music used was in the public domain and not protected by copyright.
- The composers alleged that the film’s use of their names and music falsely implied their approval of the film’s anti-Soviet message, harming their reputations and asserted “moral rights.”

## Issues

1. Whether the film’s credited, non-distortive use of the composers’ names and public-domain music created a defamatory implication warranting injunctive relief.
2. Whether the use of the composers’ names in the film and related publicity violated New York Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51 governing unauthorized use of a person’s name for advertising or trade.
3. Whether New York law recognized a claim for deliberate infliction of injury without just cause, or enforceable “moral rights,” allowing authors to block objectionable uses of public-domain works.

## Decision

- The court denied preliminary (and thus pendente lite) injunctive relief against use of the composers’ names and music in the film and in its advertising and publicity.
- The court held the complained-of uses did not constitute actionable libel because the film did not make, and did not necessarily imply, a false statement that the composers endorsed the film’s political content.
- The court held the Civil Rights Law did not bar descriptive crediting of composers whose public-domain works were used in an expressive work.
- The court declined to recognize or apply a theory of deliberate injury or “moral rights” that would restrict otherwise lawful use of public-domain works.

## Legal Principles

- Use of public-domain works is generally free from author control; absent a recognized tort or statutory violation, courts will not enjoin such use based on author objection to the user’s message.
- Defamation requires a defamatory statement or necessary implication about the plaintiff; incidental use of an artist’s work and factual crediting, without more, does not establish libel.
- New York Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51 is aimed at unauthorized commercial exploitation of a name or likeness; informational crediting in connection with the use of a work is not, by itself, a statutory violation.
- Claimed “moral rights” or generalized injury theories, if not clearly established in New York law, will not be used to create continuing veto power over public-domain uses.

## Conclusion

The court refused to enjoin a film’s incidental use of composers’ public-domain music and credited names, finding no actionable libel, no Civil Rights Law violation, and no enforceable moral-rights or comparable theory that could override the public’s right to use public-domain works.


Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 196 Misc. 67, 80 N.Y.S.2d 575 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1948)