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Law360, New York (November 20, 2012, 7:46 PM ET) -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences on Monday filed suit in Washington federal court over the sale on eBay of an Oscar award believed to be either a counterfeit that infringed the film organization's copyright or a stolen, authentic piece, suing the statuette's seller and buyer.
In its suit against James Dunne and Edgard G. Francisco, the Academy assailed Dunne's purported sale to
Francisco of the statuette in question, supposedly an award given out at the Academy's 1979 ceremony, described in the complaint as “either a genuine statuette lost to theft or a very convincing counterfeit.”
“If the statuette was a counterfeit, defendants have infringed the Academy's copyright in the 'Oscar' statuette by selling and distributing a counterfeit statuette,” according to the Academy's complaint. “If the statuette was authentic, defendants have committed conversion by asserting dominion over the
Academy's property and interfering with the Academy's right to possession of its property.”
The Academy said Monday that it maintains tight controls on the production and distribution of its copyrighted Oscar statuettes, which are issued each year at the film body's annual Academy Awards ceremony. According to the complaint, these statuettes are bestowed to their winners under various restrictions, “including prohibitions against the sale, transfer or copying of the statuette.”
Furthermore, the manufacturers commissioned by the Academy to make the Oscar statuettes are not allowed to make copies of the award for any other purpose, according to the complaint.
The Academy alleges Dunne set up an eBay auction in September for what he described as a “Rare Pre-
1950 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences OSCAR Statue Award!” The item was described as bearing the same identification number as was assigned to the statuette given in 1979 to sound engineer Aaron Rochin for his work on the film “The Deer Hunter," the Academy says.
According to the complaint, Dunne canceled the auction before a sale was completed and later privately sold the statuette to Francisco for $25,000, after which the Academy contacted both individuals.
According to the complaint, Dunne represented that he acquired the statuette either through a moving sale or from a third party who had purchased it at an estate sale. Francisco claims that he learned that his purchase was a counterfeit after contacting a collector of Oscar statuettes for appraisal, the
Academy said.
“The notion that an 'Oscar' 'collector' exists and that Francisco was aware of such a person and able to contact him or her ... is remarkable,” the Academy said, emphasizing its controls on the awards.

The Academy said the defendants' conduct amounts to either infringement of its copyright through the sale of a counterfeit or for conversion based on the sale of stolen property.
“The Academy is therefore entitled to injunctive relief to restrain defendants from further infringement of the 'Oscar' statuette and other acts of wrongdoing, as well as an award of actual damages for conversion or copyright infringement or, if an infringement occurred, at the Academy's election, statutory damages for willful infringement, together with its costs and attorneys' fees,” according to the complaint.
Representatives for the parties were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
The Academy is represented by Tiffany Scott Connors of Lane Powell PC.
Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.
The case is Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences v. Dunne et al., case number 2:12-cv-02032, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
--Editing by Richard McVay.
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