GAMMA AUDIO & VIDEO, INC. V.

EAN-CHEA
11F. 3d 1106 (1993)

FACTS:
Television Broadcast Ltd. or TVB is a producer of Chinese language television
programs and videotapes including the two programs at bar, Jade Fox and Hunters
Prey, which were originally broadcasted by TVB in Hong Kong. Through a series of
four recorded licensing agreements, Gamma Audio and Video Inc. obtained three
exclusive rights with respect to TVB’s programs; (1) the right to dub TVB’s videotapes
into Cambodian, (2) to duplicate the dubbed versions, and (3) to distribute them by
rental in thirty-seven states including Massachusetts. However, no one registered the
copyrights in the derivative works created by Gamma.

Meanwhile, Ean-Chea owns and operates two video rental stores in Lowell,
Massachusetts and became the authorized distributor of the Cambodian versions of
TVB’s programs for Gamma’s predecessor.

Gamma commenced an action in the US District Court against Ean-Chea with six
causes of action alleging violations of Copyrights Act and the Lanham Act, with four
state law claims: unfair competition, conversion, tortious interference with
advantageous business relations, and a constructive trust. Gamma alleged that Ean-
Chea was behind a massive pirating scheme, and requested million of dollars in
relief.

ISSUE:
Whether there is copyright infringement on the part of the respondent for distributing
Cambodian dubbed videotapes of Jade Fox or not

HELD:
Yes. The judgment was entered in favor of Gamma and held respondent Ean-Chea
guilty for unlawfully distributing two videotapes containing four episodes of the
Cambodian dubbed program, Jade Fox, a popular Chinese soap opera. However, the
court reiterated that the program’s four episodes constitute only one work for
purposes of computing statutory damages.

It is worthy of noting that there are two sets of copyrights at issue here, the
underlying work which is the original Chinese language Jade Fox program created by
TVB, and the derivative work created by Gamma which is the Cambodian dubbed
version of said program. It is undisputed that the copyrights in Gamma’s derivative
works are unregistered but this fact do not affect the infringement of copyright in the
underlying work committed by Ean-Chea.

A derivative work is work based upon one or more pre-existing works, such as
translation, musical arrangements, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture
version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other
form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a
whole, represents an original work of authorship, is a “derivative work”. 17 U.S.C.
Sec 101