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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
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Dastar Corp vs Twentieth Century Fox, 537 U.S. 1099 (2003)

In 1948, three and a half years after the German surrender at Reims, General Dwight D. Eisenhower completed Crusade in Europe, his written account of the allied campaign in Europe during World War II. Doubleday published the book and granted exclusive television rights to an affiliate of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Fox). Fox, in turn, arranged for Time, Inc., to produce a television series, also called Crusade in Europe, based on the book, and Time assigned its copyright in the series to Fox. The television series, consisting of 26 episodes, was first broadcast in 1949. It combined a soundtrack based on a narration of the book with film footage from the United States Army, Navy, and Coast Guard, the British Ministry of Information and War Office, etc. In 1975, Doubleday renewed the copyright on the book. Fox, however, did not renew the copyright on the Crusade television series, which expired in 1977, leaving the television series in the public domain.

In 1995, Dastar decided to expand its product line from music compact discs to videos. Anticipating renewed interest in World War II on the 50th anniversary of the war's end, Dastar released a video set entitled World War II Campaigns in Europe. To make Campaigns, Dastar purchased eight beta cam tapes of the original version of the Crusade television series, which is in the public domain, copied them, and then edited the series. Dastar created new packaging for its Campaigns series and a new title. Dastar manufactured and sold the Campaigns video set as its own product

The District Court found for Fox on all three counts, on the state-law unfair-competition claim because the ultimate test is whether the public is likely to be deceived or confused. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment on the Lanham Act claim, but reversed as to the copyright claim and remanded. Court of Appeals reasoned that “Dastar copied substantially the entire Crusade in Europe series created by Twentieth Century Fox, labeled the resulting product with a different name and marketed it without attribution to Fox [,and] therefore committed a 'bodily appropriation' of Fox's series. It concluded that "Dastar's 'bodily appropriation' of Fox's original [television] series is sufficient to establish the reverse passing off."

The Supreme Court disagreed, concluding that Dastar was the "origin" of the products it sold as its own, and that Fox could not prevail on their Lanham Act claim.

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