*12 Plaintiff also alleges that two stories from Ghosts of Gettysburg II were infringed: “Castaway Souls” and “Death's Feast.” Plaintiff alleges that “Castaway Souls” was infringed by a Farnsworth House Ghost Walk in August 1997. (Pl.'s Ex. 23) and “Death's Feast” was infringed by Defendant O'Day's article “Ghosts of Gettysburg” in the April 1997 edition of Crossroads to History. (Pl.'s Ex. 22.) The court finds that no reasonable jury could find that Defendants infringed the original copyright protected aspects of either of Plaintiff's stories. In “Castaway Souls,” Plaintiff describes certain historical facts surrounding Jennie Wade's life and death. He then describes a ghostly encounter that he and others witnessed where a chain in Jennie Wade's house swung of its own volition. The allegedly infringing story uses many of the same historical facts concerning Jennie Wade's life and death and also describes the encounter with the swinging chain. However, these are the central events of the Jennie Wade legend. Defendants did not copy Plaintiff's story verbatim, nor closely paraphrase the story. In “Death's Feast,” Plaintiff tells two stories associated with the Iverson's Pits area, one of which was learned from a term paper written by a Gettysburg College student in 1983. Even if Plaintiff's story possessed enough originality in its literary prose and selection of encounters to warrant copyright protection, O'Day's story was not infringing because it only uses the one encounter that came from the student's term paper. The only similarities between Plaintiff's and Defendants' stories were the general plot of the legends which were already in the public domain and were therefore not protected by Plaintiff's copyrights. Accordingly, summary judgment will be denied on these two stories.
Plaintiff also alleges that two stories from Ghosts of Gettysburg III were infringed: “The Premature Burial” was allegedly infringed by an article written by Defendant O'Day in the April 1997 edition of May We Suggest (Pl.'s Ex. 20) and Plaintiff's “A Short Walk to the Other World” was allegedly infringed by at least one Farnsworth House Walking Tour in August 1997. (Pl.'s Ex. 23.) Each of Plaintiff's stories has enough originality to have certain aspects protected. In “The Premature Burial,” Plaintiff writes his own introduction about the feeling of being buried alive. However, the rest of the story is eerily similar to a much earlier article, “Gettysburg Exorcism or Buried Alive!,” Blue & Gray Magazine, from October 1991. Therefore, while Plaintiff's precise wording could perhaps be protected, the underlying events of the story are in the public domain and do not belong to Plaintiff. The story “A Short Walk to the Other World” is original in its selection and arrangement of legends of ghostly encounters and in Plaintiff's own literary prose. However, the court finds that neither of Plaintiff's stories were infringed by Defendants. Only one of the encounters within “A Short Walk to the Other World” was used in Defendants' tour and even that encounter was significantly different—in Defendants' version the ghost chases the character in the story. With regard to “The Premature Burial,” O'Day does not use Plaintiff's original description of being buried alive. While O'Day's version of the story does use many of the same events as Plaintiff's story, these are the events of the legend and cannot be copyright protected by Plaintiff. Accordingly, summary judgment is denied as to these stories.
*13 Based upon the foregoing discussion, the only story which a reasonable jury could find to have been infringed is “The Sartorial Spirit of Stevens Hall and the Blue Boy,” by Defendant O'Day and the Corporation. Therefore, no remaining claims exist against Defendant Cindy Shultz and the Farnsworth House Ghost Tours. However, Defendant O'Day and the Corporation have asserted additional arguments for summary judgment that are discussed below.