''Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin Co.'', , was a case decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit against the owner of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel '' Gone with the Wind'', vacating an injunction prohibiting the publisher of Alice Randall's 2001 parody, '' The Wind Done Gone'', from distributing the book. The Court of Appeals recognized copyright in several characters from ''Gone with the Wind'' and found that ''The Wind Done Gone'' ''had'' "appropriate numerous characters, settings, and plot twists". However, the court decided that this appropriation was protected under the doctrine of fair use. This case arguably stands for the principle that the creation and publication of a carefully written

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

novel in the United States counts as

fair use Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...

. In permitting parody without permission, the decision followed the 1994

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

decision in '' Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'' which ruled that 2 Live Crew's unlicensed use of the bass line from Roy Orbison's song " Oh, Pretty Woman" could constitute fair use even though the work was a commercial use, and extended that principle from songs to novels. It is binding

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

in the Eleventh Circuit. Mitchell's estate chose to drop the suit after publisher Houghton agreed to make a donation to Morehouse College."Mitchell Estate Settles Gone With the Wind Suit," ''The New York Times'' May 10, 2002; Settlement reached over Wind Done Gone, The Associated Press, May 10, 2002.

References

External links

*
Locating Copyright Within the First Amendment Skein
by N. W. Netanel 54 ''Stanford Law Review'' 101 {{Gone with the Wind Copyright infringement of fictional characters United States copyright case law United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit cases 2001 in United States case law Fair use case law Gone with the Wind Houghton Mifflin Harcourt SunTrust Banks

See also

References

External links