Ben Hur (1907 film)

Ben Hur is a 15 minute long 1907 silent film, it was the first film version of Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur. However it was made without the permission of Wallace's estate, something not uncommon at the time when there was no copyright law to protect authors. Gene Gauthier wrote in her 1928 autobiography how the film industry infringed upon everything. As a result of the production of Ben Hur, Harper and Brothers and the author's estate brought suit against Kalem Studios, the Motion Picture Patents Company, and Gauntier for copyright infringement. The suit, which eventually settled the question of American copyright law for all time, took years to make its way through the court system but the United States Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of Harper's and Wallace and against the film company.

See also

• Ben-Hur: other uses