Copyright infringement claims over the creation of motion pictures and television shows are being filed with increasing frequency. To prevail on a claim for copyright infringement, the plaintiff must establish that he or she owns the copyright work, establish that the defendant had access to the plaintiff's work and show substantial similarity between the copyrighted work and the defendant's work.

Most copyright infringement cases involving movies or television programs are filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 2nd Circuit, which have over the years, developed separate, albeit different, legal tests for determining when one work infringes another.

Claims of infringement of movies and TV shows filed in courts outside the 9th and 2nd circuits often will look to either the 2nd or 9th circuits' tests for guidance. Such was the case in connection with the 6th Circuit's March 19 decision in Murray Hill Publications Inc. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 5174 (6th Cir. March 19, 2004). The decision involved the 1996 motion picture "Jingle All the Way."

This article discusses the 6th Circuit's decision in Murray Hill, where the Court reversed a jury award of damages and entered judgment for the studio,  and explains why this decision may prove important to future cases. 

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