U.S. Department of Justice
Date of this Version
4-1937
Citation
United States Government, (1937)
Abstract
Copyright Infringement Case
On November 2, 1936 Mr. Russell Graham Attorney at Law, contacted the Los Angeles division of the Bureau and alleged that on September 1, 1936, Groucho and Chico Marx, radio and motion picture entertainers, presented a radio sketch on the Reynolds broadcast at the Hollywood Music Box Theater. The sketch was substantially the same as the radio serial comedy called, "The Hollywood Adventures of Mr. Dibble," on April 10, 1934.
My Graham said that the Marx brothers presented the sketch that had been written and copyrighted by Garrett Graham, with the knowledge that it was copyrighted material; that they gained this knowledge through negotiations held between the Marx Brothers and the Graham Brothers, Garrett and Carrell, for the use of the copyrighted sketch is a pending deal with prospective sponsors of a radio serial.