TWIN BOOKS CORPORATION v. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, 83 F.3d 1162 (9th Dist. 1996) is a copy right case that went to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeal involves the children’s book, Bambi – A Life in the Woods. Twin Books appeal the decision of the District Courts granting Disney’s Motion of Summary Judgment. Most people are not aware that Bambi was not made by Walt Disney. Bambi was actually created in Austria by Felix Salten in Germany in 1923. In 1926, Salten republished his book, this time with a notice of the United Stated copyright. It was registered in early 1927. Disney gained right to Bambi when Sidney Franklin assigned his rights to him in 1937. The movie Bambi was released in 1942. Since then the movie has been rereleased seven times, along with numerous toys and other books based on the Bambi story. …show more content…
His daughter, Anna, renewed the U.S. copyright on Bambi in 1954. Anna passed away in 1977, leaving her husband as her sole heir and successor to her rights. In 1993 the husband assigned his and his 2 children’s rights over to Twin Books. The disputer came between Twin Books and Disney as to the rights of the parties. In 1958 Anna and Disney negotiated and executed three agreements with Disney concerning her rights to Bambi. Defendant Walt Disney moved for summary judgment in the district court on three theories: (1) the Bambi book is in the public domain; (2) the 1958 Anna Wyler agreements granted Disney renewal copyrights in the Bambi motion picture throughout the second copyright term; and (3) the Veit Wyler assignment to Twin Books made Twin Books a non-exclusive licensee only (TWIN BOOKS CORPORATION v. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, 83 F.3d 1162, at 1164, (9th Dist.