not whether the instruction was completely faultless, but whether the jury was misled in any way. Thus, ‘[w]here a jury instruction is legally erroneous, we must reverse if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction.’” Coleman, 108 F.3d at 1202 (citation omitted) (emphasis added). We have reviewed the jury instructions in their entirety and find that, taken as a whole, they properly guided the jury. Id.; Morrison Knudsen, 175 F.3d at 1235. Especially in light of (1) the fact that the Conduit, being dead, did not testify as to his intentions, leaving the details of those intentions part of the murky history of the composition of The Urantia Book, and (2) the fact that the book itself was, as Urantia Foundation points out, in evidence, we see no reason whatsoever to believe that the jury based its verdict on the possibly erroneous instruction. See Coleman, 108 F.3d at 1202.
The dispositive fact is, simply, that ample evidence was presented to the jury to support its determination that The Urantia Book is not a composite work. Viewing the evidence in the record, as we must, in the light most favorable to Michael Foundation, we hold that the district court properly denied Urantia Foundation’s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law.
- 4. Commissioned Work
Urantia Foundation alternatively argues that The Urantia Book is a commissioned work. If this is so, Urantia Foundation’s 1983 renewal as proprietor of the copyright is valid. The 1909 Act did not contemplate “commissioned works.” The Act did provide that “in the case of … any work copyrighted by … an employer for whom such work is made for hire, the proprietor of such copyright shall be entitied to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work.” 17 U.S.C. § 24 (repealed); 17 U.S.C. § 304(a)(1)(B)(ii) (emphasis added). Urantia Foundation does not argue that a traditional employment relationship existed between the Contact Commission and the Conduit; rather, it argues that the Contact Commission specially commissioned The Urantia Book from the Conduit.
The commissioned works doctrine began as a judicially created stopgap, applying the 1909 Act’s provisions regarding works created for hire in traditional employer-employee relationships to those created on commission in independent contractor relationships. While the 1976 Act codifies this judicially created doctrine, 17 U.S.C. § 101, the 1909 Act applies to the relationship at issue in this case. Thus, in order to prove a commissioning relationship existed such that Urantia Foundation’s 1983 renewal was valid, Urantia Foundation must satisfy the test developed by the relevant caselaw.[1]
Aside from its question-of-law argument, which we have discussed and rejected supra,[2] Urantia Foundation advances three main arguments in support of its contention that the district court erred when it refused to hold as a matter of law that the Contact Commission specially commissioned The Urantia Book from the Conduit. We address first Urantia Foundation’s belated argument that “the district court’s order is … based on the erroneous premise that a commissioning
- ↑ As our discussion infra indicates, the partics disagree as to precisely what that test is. Urantia Foundation argues that the test includes only “instance” and “expense” prongs, while Michael Foundation argues that an additional prong requires that the commissioning party have the right to control the content of the work itself.
- ↑ See Part II.A.2, supra.
