The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed summary judgment in Warner Bros’ favor on the We Are Marshall copyright infringement and breach of contract case. This is the case in which Deborah Novak and John Witek made a documentary film about the Marshall University football team and plane crash called Ashes To Glory, and then sued Warner Bros alleging that that We Are Marshall was based on their film. The decision reaffirms that historical facts are not protected by copyright, and that “the only concrete or articulable similarities between Ashes to Glory and We Are Marshall consist of unprotectible scenes a faire, and historical facts, which, like all facts, whether scientific, historical, biographical or news of the day may not be copyrighted and are part of the public domain available to every person.”

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