Horror Inc. v. Miller

Second Circuit holds that screenwriter Victor Miller acted as independent contractor when writing screenplay for 1980 horror film Friday the 13th and had right to recapture copyright in screenplay, affirming district court’s grant of summary judgment.

The central issue in this case arising from the screenplay of the landmark 1980 horror film Friday the 13th is whether, for Copyright Act purposes, the film’s screenwriter, Victor Miller, acted as an employee or as an independent contractor for the film production company Manny Inc. when Miller wrote the screenplay. The Second Circuit held that Miller acted as an independent contractor and could therefore exercise his statutory termination right to recapture the copyright in the screenplay, affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in Miller’s favor in the declaratory judgment action brought by Manny’s successors in interest.