Twin Books Corp. v. Walt Disney Co.

Twin Books Corp. v. Walt Disney Co., 877 F. Supp. 496 (N.D. Cal. 1995) was a case that was brought to the court's attention by the Twin Books Corporation. The goal was to sue The Walt Disney Company and to stop all further action of the use of the movie, Bambi. Although the Twin Books Corp did not win at first, they did end up having this case go into there favor a second time that this court case was brought up. When the case was brought to the attention of  Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, it was overturned to Twin Books Corp.

The case was primarily looked into due to a form of copyright. Bambi originally started out as a book written by a man named Felix Salten. The book was titled "Bambi, A Life in the Woods” and was published in Austria, in German. The story was inherited and passed along to the Walt Disney Company. However, later down the road Felix Salten's daughter attempted to renew the copyright on the book "Bambi, A Life in the Woods".

In this case, the plaintiff is Twin Books Corp and the defendant is Walt Disney Company. Twin Books Corp decided to sue The Walt Disney Company. Their motive towards suing Disney is due to a breach of derivative copyright. Derivative copyright is “a new work based on pre-existing work.”^[1] The new work is referring to the movie Bambi. The movie Bambi was created based on the book “Bambi, a Life in the Woods” by Felix Salten. The movie Bambi was released to the public in the year 1942.

This case did not make it to the Supreme Court of the United States. This case was apart of the California Law though. The courts argued on January 5th, 1995 and the final decided on May 20, 1996. The full case name was Twin Books Corporation v. Walt Disney Company. The citation was 877 U.S. 496. The court membership included the chief justice William Rehnquist. The associate justices included the following members John P. Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonia Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. The case opinion was majority Judge Beezer, Judge Hawkins, Judge Quackenbush. The law applied 1909 copyright law.

Twin Books Corporation has limited information on the internet. They do not have an official website on the internet. An implant note is that Twin Books corporation is not a general pushing house.  t was the rights holder that acquired U.S. copyrights interest in Bambi.”^[2]

The Walt Disney Company was first founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and his older brother Roy. The Walt Disney Company is known for producing family friendly films, theme parks, and merchandise. Some of the most iconic Disney movies are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Peter Pan. Disney has two large theme parks located in the United States: Walt Disney World, and Disneyland. They also have an extension of other family friendly places to vacation to like Disney Cruises, and the Disney Aulani. Disney is a very successful company “The Walt Disney Company reported a $91.36 billion in revenue for its fiscal year 2024.”^[3] Overall The Walt Disney Company has proven it is a very successful company.  

Some of the following information was founded by the publish court case.^[4]

1923 - Bambi "A life in the Woods" was published in Austria in German by Felix Salten. There was no copyright notice included  which is very critical under U.S. laws.  

1926 - Bambi was published in the United States with proper copyright notice. The copyright was established under the 1909 U.S. Copyright Act.  

1936-1937 - Sidney Franklin obtains the rights from Felix Salten and assigns them to Walt Disney Productions.

1942 - Disney releases Bambi, a film based on the novel. This became Disney’s most Iconic animated film.

1954 - Anna Salten Wyler, Felix Salten Daughter, renews the U.S. copyright. The renewal may be considered invite or late though.

1993 - Twin Books Corporation acquired rights to Bambi from Viet Wyler and others (heirs of Felix Salten). Twin Books claims rights to Bambi in print and derivation works, including film profits.  

1994-1995 - Twin Books files suit against The Walt Disney Company in the U.S. District Court. This court is located in the Northern District of California. The claim further included copyrights infringement, demand for profits from Bambi the film that The Walt Disney Company produced, and lastly they requested for injunction to halt further use. An injunction to halt further use is a court's way of stopping the company to continue with further action. The purpose of this is to stop further wrongdoing of the party against the other.

1996 - Court makes rules out the case

A Public domain is the state of belonging or being above to the public as a whole accounting the stated article. There was three public domain theories that the defendant's arguments. The first was when Bambi was pubic domain in 1923 due to publication without notice. The seconded public domain happened three years later in 1926 with an invalid notice. The last public domain happened many years later in 1951 "when Anna Wyler failed to review the copywrite timely."^[5] This case goes into depth as the 1909 Copywrite Act lasted 28 years and was eligible for renewing after the 28 years. The court stated that "Bambi's copywrite term started in 1923."^[5] This makes Bambi elidable for a copywrite renewal in 1951. Bambi entered the public domain because Anna Wyler tried to renew the copywrite in 1954. This was three years too late therefore it became public domain. An important note from the public domain from the court case is:

"That with respect to ... (1) works of citizens of Austria subject to renewal of copyright under the laws of the United States of America on or after March 13, 1938 and prior to July 27, 1956, there has existed during several years of the aforementioned period such disruption or suspension of facilities essential to compliance with the conditions and formalities prescribed with respect to such works by copyright laws of the United States of America as to bring such works within the terms of the [1909 Act], and that accordingly the time within which compliance with such conditions and formalities may take place is hereby extended with respect to such works for one year after the date of this proclamation"( ^[5]).

The Courts Ruling in 1995

On March 21st, 1995 the courts ruled that Disney won the case. The reason they won the case was because the U.S. copyright was not properly secured at the time. This was due to the book entering the public domain in the U.S. In this favor it allowed Disney to win due to a non copyright infringement.

The Courts Ruling in 1996

However in 1996 the court's decision changed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals favored the Twin Books Corporation. “The Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals is one of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals in the federal judicial system.”^[6] The U.S. publication in 1928 deterred the copyright status under U.S. law. The book was properly copyrighted in the U.S. in 1928 the copyright was still valid in 1993 when Twin Books obtained the rights. Therefore, Bambi was not in the public domain, and Twin Books had a valid claim.

Final Decision

Disney technically won the trial originally by a public domain argument.

Twin Books won the trail based on the US copyright terms still being relevant.