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Case Summary

Leigh v. Warner Brothers, Inc.

Leigh v. Warner Brothers, 212 F.3d 1210 (11th Cir. 2000).

Précis
This federal copyright infringement case was centered on allegedly similar depictions of the Bird Girl statue in Bonaventure Cemetery. Photographer Jack Leigh had taken a photograph of the statue to serve as the cover image of the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Warner Brothers, Inc., in the process of adapting the novel to film, depicted the Bird Girl statue in various film segments and promotional materials. Leigh brought suit for copyright infringement, claiming Warner Brothers’ original images were substantially similar to his photograph.






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