Zorro lawsuit back on the books

A lawsuit intended to free Zorro from the grips of intellectual property has been reinstated after a judge changed his mind on his previous decision to dismiss. 

The May 2013 lawsuit was brought by playwright Robert Cabell, who published a musical in 1996 called "Z — The Musical of Zorro," based upon the 1919 story by author Johnston McCulley. John Gertz, owner of Zorro Productions Inc. (ZPI), inherited the rights to Zorro from his father, who had received them from McCulley.

When Cabell licensed his musical to be performed in Germany ZPI raised their hackles and threatened the playwright with litigation. In response Robert Cabell decided to sue, claiming that ZPI had "built a licensing empire out of smoke and mirrors," because Zorro was in the public domain. Cabell demanded that trademarks on the character be canceled and alleged that the company professing rights on Zorro was perpetuating fraud. He also claimed that ZPI had infringed on his intellectual property rights because they had, "copied Mr. Cabell's material and used it as the basis for a book and a musical of their own."

A judge quickly dismissed Cabell's claims by ruling that there was no reason for the dispute to take place in Washington, since ZPI's licensing agreements were not aimed at Washington. Now the same judge is changing his mind, stating that transferring the case to a California district is a better option. According to The Hollywood Reporter a dismissal would waste resources by forcing the plaintiff to "revisit already trodden ground in order to initiate a new action," and would "preclude plaintiff from seeking recovery for alleged infringement."

Sony Pictures, which plans on releasing a Zorro film in late 2017, will undoubtedly be watching this case closely.

If you are working with intellectual property, or are concerned with protecting your artistic work, contact an experienced business attorney as soon as possible.

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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