Significance: Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp. - National Coalition Against Censorship

CASE NAME:	Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp.
CITATION:	147 F.3d 215 (2d Cir. 1998)
Topics:	Copyright and Fair Use; Film

Photographer Jorge Antonio Sandoval created a series of black and white self portraits between 1991 and 1994. Sandoval never published or publicly displayed any of the photographs from the series. Ten of the photographs were visible for a few seconds in the film Seven (1995).

Before the court evaluated the copyright infringement claim, the court examined whether the claim was de minimis.

In this case, the court ruled that the use of the photographs was de minimis because the photographs were out of focus, often obscured and were only visible for a few seconds.

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