Republic Pictures Corp. Et Al. v. Rogers‪.‬

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, enjoining appellants from distributing or licensing the exhibition of eighty-one motion pictures produced and owned by them upon sponsored or sustaining television programs. In each of those motion pictures appellee appears as the principal actor. Appellants claim the right, under contracts with appellee, to freely exhibit motion pictures produced pursuant to such contracts, on television or by any other means, regardless of whether advertising is connected with such exhibitions. All parties agree that pursuant to said contracts, appellee and only appellee has the right to use his name, picture or voice in advertisements (except for advertisements of motion pictures). Appellee contends that the exhibition of motion pictures in which appellee is the leading actor, upon commercially sponsored television programs, would be an advertising use of his name, picture and voice, a right not granted by the said contracts. Necessarily we must commence our study of this conflict by examining the contractual provisions which bear upon the controversy.