Court Rejects Copyright Suit Claiming Infringement In Use of Judas Iscariot Trial

In Porto v. Guirgis, (SDNY, Sept. 28, 2009), a New York federal district court rejected a claim by author Michael Porto (also known as "Guy Michaels") that Guirgis' play "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" violates the copyrights for Porto's novel "Judas on Appeal." Both works involved a fictional trial of Judas Iscariot in which the issue is whether Judas should be admitted to paradise. The novel has the trial before a fictional World Court of Religion held in the Federal Courthouse in New York's Foley Square, while the play has the trial before a fictional judge in Purgatory. The court said:

The trials depicted in the two works are dramatically different in substance, setting, plot, theme, language, and the overall thrust and feel of the works. Stripped of unprotectible elements—such as the biblical characters and biblical story—the works are not substantially similar.

Courthouse News Service reported on the decision yesterday.