Hollywood director Michael Bay has recently issued a claim in the Los Angeles Superior Court against General Motors LLC and TWG Cadillac Formula 1 Team Holdings LLC for breach of contract and copyright infringement. Bay alleges that the defendants have infringed his copyright by using ideas that he had pitched to film their advertisement for the Super Bowl without his consent.
Bay has pleaded that he was originally touted to direct the advertisement, and provided the defendants with clips from his previously directed movie ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ to portray his vision for the advertisement. Bay then claims that he was hired on a “single bid” basis, taken to mean that the defendants wanted to expedite acquiring his services, and Bay postponed other projects in response. Following this, the defendants’ agency told Bay that his services were no longer required and subsequently filmed the advertisement using motifs similar to the clips provided, forming the basis for Bay’s copyright infringement claim.
If this claim was to be issued in the United Kingdom, it could fail on the basis that copyright protection extends only to the expression of an idea, and not the idea itself. Since Bay merely provided an idea for the advertisement, and did not express that idea in a medium, the defendants could have argued that Bay’s claim should fail pursuant to article 9 of the InfoSoc Directive. In comparison, the Los Angeles Superior Court has set a precedent of allowing copyright infringement claims for the confidential sharing of ideas in exchange for payment, which could give Bay a stronger basis to further his claim in that jurisdiction.
While this matter progresses, there may be further ramifications outside the legal world. Given Cadillac’s expansion into Formula 1 and the widespread publicity that the Super Bowl offers, Bay’s claim may stifle such ventures.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
