On June 26, 2012, in Forest Park Pictures v. Universal Television Network, a case of first impression in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court held that an implied-in-fact contract claim arising from the submission of an idea for a television series was not preempted by the Copyright Act.1 In dicta, the court also observed that the same result would obtain if the claim had been based on an express contract.2
Although the Second Circuit had opined on preemption issues in several cases involving other types of state law claims, such as misappropriation3 (including “hot news”4), conversion,5 trade secrets,6 unjust enrichment,7 and confidential relationships,8 it had not been squarely presented with the question as applied to contract claims.9 In reversing the district court decision,10 which had relied on prior Southern District decisions holding such claims to be preempted,11 the Second Circuit joined the Ninth12 and seven other sister circuits13 which had rejected the preemption defense to breach of contract claims.
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