Silvers v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
402 F. 3d 881 (2005)
Relevant factsFree
Silvers (plaintiff) wrote a script whose copyright was owned by Frank & Bob Films, and after Sony (defendant) allegedly produced an infringing movie, Frank & Bob Films assigned Silvers the right to sue for that infringement while retaining the copyright itself; Sony moved to dismiss for lack of standing under the Copyright Act, which authorizes suit only by owners of exclusive rights.
IssueFree
Whether, when a statute explicitly includes certain things within a class, a court should interpret the statute to implicitly exclude other things of the same class.
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