Judge rules that possession of clips may grant copyright
A Santa Monica filmmaker who borrowed 62 seconds of aging sportscar footage lost a copyright lawsuit after the eventual owner of the 1960s frames demanded payment.
The judge relied on the principles of fairness to find in favor of Manny Samaniego, who sued filmmaker Michael Rose for using old Ford Motor Co. promotional footage in a special for The History Channel last year.
Samaniego got the master to the 1960s Ford film, “Shelby Goes Racing with Ford,” from an unnamed friend in Washington. The friend had bought an entire library of film negatives from a local movie laboratory that went out of business a decade ago.
The show is about Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, the famous American sportscar.
Samaniego calculated that 62 seconds of the old film appear in Rose’s recent History Channel special, “Ultimate Autos: Cobra.” So he sent Rose an invoice for $7,956.38, asking $75 for each second of the old footage that was used, as well as compensation for other footage not covered in the lawsuit.
Possession of the old master, Samaniego claimed, entitles him to copyright royalties. So when Rose didn’t pay up, he sued the filmmaker for the maximum small claims amount of $5,000.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Richard Goldstein acknowledged the complexities of the lawsuit.
“I have two problems with this case,” said the judge. “Is there a copyright? If so, what’s a fair price? I’m not sure I know the answer to either one.”
Ultimately, Judge Goldstein concluded that Rose should pay Samaniego for using the footage, based on principles of fairness.
“I’m going to exercise my equity powers,” said Judge Goldstein, “and award Mr. Samaniego $1,450 plus court costs.” Equity powers allow judges to make awards based on what they feel is fair and equitable, and not on any specific legal basis.
Rose, who was paid $150,000 to produce the 45-minute, 45-second special, told the court that even if he was legally responsible to pay a licensing fee, the industry rate was far lower than $75 per second.
“The going rate is about $35 to $40 a second from a reputable stock footage library with a published rate sheet – something that he didn’t have.”
Rose further told the court that the footage came directly from Ford and said he’d never had a deal with Samaniego. He added that the judge was setting a dangerous precedent by finding for Samaniego.
“I think this guy’s seriously mistaken,” said Rose. “I’ve made 70 shows and I’ve never experienced anything like this. It would be like me saying I’m going to copyright the Bible, and everyone who has printed it owes me.”
Rose later indicated that the Library of Congress copyright guidelines specifically state that mere ownership does not constitute copyright.
Samaniego, whose unnamed friend built up an extensive library by purchasing material from The Tape Company and The Video Library — both closed libraries — acknowledged that the film did enter the public domain. But Samaniego claimed that his possession establishes a copyright, even though he is not the author and the original material was never copyrighted.
“The copyright laws are very esoteric,” admitted Samaniego. “But according to my sources, I have the copyright to that film.”
Samaniego says he sent official copyright filing papers in 1995 and is still awaiting verification.
Ford models designed under Carroll Shelby are widely considered classics. A 1965 Shelby GT 350 costs about $75,000 and 1965 Shelby Cobras start at roughly $225,000, according to automotive experts.
But they weren’t always such hot items. “After (‘Shelby Goes Racing with Ford’) came out it was worthless to Ford,” said Samaniego. “Now, 30 to 40 years later, suddenly it’s valuable.”
Rose said he is considering an appeal. He doesn’t believe Samaniego’s copyright claim will hold up under scrutiny, but isn’t sure another day in court would be worth the time.
“This guy is just really confused,” Rose asserted.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 3, 2002. Read the original PDF.