SHORT TAKES : Award in ‘Kismet’ Case Stands
The Supreme Court today refused to alter the fate of a 14-year-old copyright dispute over songs from the play “Kismet.”
The court, without comment, let stand a ruling that awarded about $1.2 million to the writers and copyright holders of the play from MGM Inc.
MGM, under a license from the play’s copyright owners, produced a movie version in 1955.
About six minutes of music from “Kismet” was included in a Las Vegas show called “Hallelujah Hollywood” that ran at the MGM Grand Hotel from 1974 to 1976. That use of the music sparked a copyright-infringement lawsuit in 1976.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Kelleher initially ordered MGM to pay $22,000 for copyright infringement, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the award was “grossly inadequate.” The judge subsequently awarded about $343,000, but the appeals court upped it to about $1.2 million.
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