William Gaddis - A Folic Of His Own

5) that some thirteen years later the motion picture The Blood in the Red White and Blue' made and exhibited by and at the behest of the defendants individually and severally and in concert with others and bearing resemblances of such substantial similarity to plaintiffs play as to have been appropriated directly therefrom in utter disregard of his rights therein

AS and For a FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION:

6) Plaintiff repeats, reiterates and realleges all of the allegations of this complaint contained in paragraphs (1–5) inclusive as if fully set forth herein at length,

7) that on or about July 1, 1977, plaintiff submitted a script for an original play titled 'Once at Antietam' dealing with certain fictitious characters and events in the American Civil War suited to stage production or television adaptation to the defendant Constantine Kiester at that time employed as a television producer in New York under the name Jonathan Livingston

8) and that shortly thereafter plaintiff's play was returned to him with a note from the said defendant citing reasons said defendant found the play unsuited to television production wherewith plaintiff withdrew it from further circulation

9) and that some thirteen years later the motion picture 'The Blood in the Red White and Blue' made and exhibited by and at the behest of defendants individually and severally and in concert with others bearing resemblances of such substantial similarity to plaintiff's play as to have been appropriated directly therefrom in utter disregard for his rights therein as a result of which infringement plaintiff has sustained general damages in an amount to be determined.

As and For a SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION:

10) Plaintiff repeats, reiterates and realleges all of the allegations of this complaint contained in paragraphs (1–5) inclusive as if fully set forth herein at length, as a result of which fraudulent conduct on the part of defendants conspiring together and with persons unnamed plaintiff is entitled to special damages in an amount to be determined.

AS and For a THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION:

Plaintiff repeats, reiterates and realleges all of the allegations of this complaint contained in paragraphs (1–5) inclusive as if fully set forth herein at length, wherein the fraudulent conduct on the part of defendants individually and severally conspiring together and with persons unnamed was willful, wanton, malicious and in utter disregard of the rights of the plaintiff causing him mental and professional distress entitling him to compensatory and treble or punitive damages in an amount to be determined. AS and for a FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION:

Plaintiff repeats, reiterates and realleges all of the allegations of this complaint contained in paragraphs (1–5) Inclusive as if fully set forth herein at length whereto, being of unassailable good character and heretofore good health he has been subjected to extreme mental and physical distress as a result of which he is entitled to a constructive trust benefit on all profits and grass revenues from The Blood in the Red White and Blue' up to and including the effective date of an injunction halting its exhibition unless and until he is credited on a separate card in letters no smaller than those accorded the film's producer and director and of no shorter duration on the screen with his originative role in its creation, an accounting, interest, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees.

— Is this all? Where's the rest of it. Where's my grandfather.

— Get to those details later Oscar, all we want now's a complaint they can't claim is defective on its face when they cite grounds for dismissal and you lose before you begin.

— Well it all just sounds muddy and repetitious. If you can explain it as we go along maybe I can help you cut down some of these tedious lines where you keep repeating yourself and save some money.

— Look, what you've got here is this judge sitting there reviewing this complaint and their answer under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure looking for grounds for dismissal where they try to claim it's legally insufficient, like it doesn't state a cause of action for a claim where relief can be granted, or they say it fails to allege an essential element of the claim or it alleges some element defectively here where there's these different kinds of damages you're asking for, see you're alleging general damages, compensatory damages, special damages, punitive damages, you comply with these procedural necessities for each one or you're out on your ass.

— Oh. All right but listen, that last part there I certainly don't want to be credited with creating this revolting spectacle, isn't that one of the things we're suing them for in the first place? Byron did it didn't he? Lord Byron, did you know that? A bad poem going around with his name on it and he sued them, took them to court and cut them right down, connecting my name with this mindless trash like Errol Flynn in The Charge of the…

— Would have made a great movie now wouldn't it, Errol Flynn playing Lord Byron don't worry about it, they're not just about to put your name up there in lights, see we're just putting them on notice here under Section 502 where once we start this action we get an injunction pulling it out of the theatres all over the country, impound their prints, masters, negatives any time while the action is pending, you see where they sold thirty one million dollars in tickets over the weekend? over a hundred million now in just the first ten days?

— A hundred million dollars!

ANSWER TO COMPLAINT

Defendant named herein as KIESTER for his answer to Complaint herein alleges as follows:

1) Denies the allegations contained in paragraphs (1–5) according to knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief.

2) Denies the allegations contained in…

— Herein, herein, the same repetitious hereins what comes next.

FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

Plaintiff has been guilty of such laches as to bar any recovery herein…

— We settled that right at the start didn't we? that we wouldn't let them get us on this laches business Harry warned me about when you talked about holding back and letting their profits pile up so we could…

— Not quite how I remember it Oscar, but…

— Yes well it doesn't really matter, I'm just trying to keep the record straight but when do we stop wasting time with this name calling and go to court, stop wasting time and money passing papers back and forth and do something.

— Going through the motions, that's where you get that phrase just going through the motions, next thing they'll want a bill of particulars to get the facts established and make a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, trying to keep you out of court Oscar not get you in it.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the undersigned hereby demand that you serve upon them within twenty days particulars of the Complaint herein as follows:

1) With respect to the allegations contained in paragraph (3–5) of the Complaint, state separately with regard to each alleged negotiation:

a. the date and place;

b. the name and address of each person, other than plaintiff and defendant, who was present or participated in the negotiations;

c. the substance of statements made by each participant in the negotiations;

d. whether the negotiations were evidenced in whole or in part by written documents, and, if so, annex a true and complete copy of each such document…

— They're steaming right along here Oscar, you find that rejection letter yet?

— Not, no I…

— What I'm trying to tell you, see that can be crucial, the judge sees that letter and it proves they had access, makes it a fact they can't argue with. See what they're doing here is they moved to dismiss our complaint under Rule 12 but they stuck some other documents in there where if this judge has to go look beyond the pleadings at these other affidavits their motion to dismiss gets converted automatically into a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 where the court reaches a decision without going to trial once there's no more questions of facts for some jury to dick around with, get these cleared up in an Amended Bill of Particulars and your depositions and…