''Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin Co.'', , was a case decided by the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal appellate court over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * Southern District ...

against the owner of

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel that was published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel ''Gone With the Wind (novel), Gone ...

's 1936 novel ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'', vacating an injunction prohibiting the publisher of

Alice Randall Alice Randall (born May 4, 1959) is an American author, songwriter, producer, and lecturer. She is best known for her contributions to country music, in addition to her novel and New York Times bestseller '' The Wind Done Gone'', which is a rein ...

's 2001 parody, ''

The Wind Done Gone ''The Wind Done Gone'' (2001) is the first novel written by Alice Randall. It is a historical novel that tells an alternative account of the story in the American novel ''Gone with the Wind'' (1936) by Margaret Mitchell. While the story of ' ...

'', 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. ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', 510 U.S. 569 (1994), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court copyright law case that established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use. This case established that the ...

'' which ruled that

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

's unlicensed use of the bass line from

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

's song "

Oh, Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman", or simply "Pretty Woman", is a song recorded by Roy Orbison and written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, '' ...

" 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 Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

."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