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Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. April 2, 2003 (02-428) return to case listing Case Summary A federal district court in California found on summary judgment that Petitioner, a video producer, was liable for reverse passing off under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), and the Ninth Circuit affirmed this finding. Respondent, the putative owner of a copyright on a television series produced in the late 1940s, claimed that Petitioner had "boldly appropriated" footage from the original series without attribution or permission. The Ninth Circuit affirmed an award of twice the Petitioner video producer's profit on the videos, even though the television series from which the product was derived was now in the public domain. The Supreme Court granted certiorari on two issues. First, whether the doctrine of reverse passing off may be applied under the Lanham Act to protect creative works from uncredited copying without a likelihood of confusion. Second, the petition asks whether a court may award twice the defendant's profits under the Lanham Act for purely deterrent purposes without a showing of a compensatory basis. The opinion of the Ninth Circuit is found at 34 Fed.Appx. 312. PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL OUTCOME Forecasting Model Expert One Expert Two Expert Three 9-0 to Reverse 7-2 to Affirm 9-0 to Reverse n/a 8-0 to Reverse VOTING TO REVERSE Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Stevens Breyer Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg [Breyer recused himself] VOTING TO AFFIRM Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg   return to case listing