BOSTON — A federal judged ruled today against Mile High Media and other defendants in the “Martha’s Vineyard Background Art Case,” where producers were accused of using a rental property to shoot content without permission or clearance for on-camera artwork.
U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris issued a summary judgement motion ruling that director and producer Nica Noelle, Mile High Distribution and other defendants violated the copyright of at least one of landlord and artist Leah Bassett’s works in each of 10 movies shot in her property.
"Even works featured in a background are entitled to copyright protection where they are 'clearly visible,' such that the medium and style would be discernable to 'the average lay observer,'" wrote Judge Saris.
Bassett had provided the judge in June with an inventory of the distinctive artworks, including sketches, hand-stitched pillows, a fireplace and a hand-painted table, that she had identified in scenes shot in the home she had rented to persons associated with the Mile High productions.
This had followed a ruling in May in favor of Mile High, throwing out several of the most egregious charges alleged by Bassett.
In her original complaint, Bassett — a sometime artist whose paintings decorated her Martha’s Vineyard rental property — had named now-retired producer and director Nica Noelle; her former collaborator, Joshua Darling; the distributor of their content, Mile High Media; and others as defendants, accusing them in a civil lawsuit of a laundry list of violations against herself (such as fraud and emotional distress), her property and her copyrighted art
As XBIZ reported, Judge Saris granted Mile High and the other co-defendants their motion to dismiss counts I (Breach of Contract), II (Trespass), III (Negligence), VI (Civil Fraud), X (Civil RICO) and XI (Defamation).
Bassett was allowed to continue the lawsuit on counts IV (Chapter 93A), V (Civil Conspiracy), VII (Infliction of Emotional and Mental Distress) and VIII (Interference with Contractual Relations).
Judge Saris established as her standard for when an artwork makes a “significant” appearance as 30 seconds, reported legal news site Law360, “whether it's all at one time or in aggregate.”
A Mile High Media representative contacted by XBIZ declined to comment on this story.
Today, Judge Saris also set the trial date for the remaining counts to February 1, 2021.