 Stewart v. Abend

Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court decision holding that a successor copyright owner (one who obtains ownership later on, such as the heirs of a copyright owner who dies) has the exclusive right to permit the creation and exploitation of derivative works, regardless of potentially conflicting agreements by prior copyright holders.Cornell Woolrich originally wrote the short story "It Had to Be Murder", and sold the publication rights to Popular Publications, Inc., which published the story in its "Dime Detective Magazine" (February 1942 issue).