Midler v. Ford Motor Co.’s Empirical Analysis
849 F.2d 460 · 1988
Citation profile
30 federal appellate · 4 district · 7 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 67 later decisions — most recently October 2022 · most notably Waits v. Frito-Lay, Inc. (1992), Dr Seuss Enterprises Lp v. Penguin Books Usa Inc (1997)
30 federal appellate · 4 district · 7 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 17 U.S.C. § 102 (§ 101 of the Copyright Act of 1976) · 17 U.S.C. § 114 (§ 101 of the Copyright Act of 1976)
Relies on Time, Inc. v. Hill · United States v. Mitchell · Motschenbacher v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. · H.B. Halicki, D/B/A H.B. Halicki Productions v. United Artists Communications, Inc Mann Theaters Corp. Pacific Theatres Inc. Edwards Theaters, Inc.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 67 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Midler does not seek damages for [the defendant’s] use of “Do You Want To Dance,” and thus her claim is not preempted by federal copyright law. Copyright protects “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression.” A voice is not copyrightable. The sounds are not “fixed.” What is put forward as protectible here is more personal than any work of authorship.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“when a distinctive voice of a professional singer is widely known and is deliberately imitated in order to sell a product, the sellers have appropriated what is not theirs and have committed a tort in California.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.