In the case of Stewart et al. v. Abend, DBA Authors Research Co., 1989, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a copyright dispute involving the classic film "Rear Window." The original story was written by Cornell Woolrich and sold to Alfred Hitchcock for adaptation into a movie. After Woolrich's death, his executor renewed the copyright as per law at that time which allowed authors or their heirs to renew copyrights after an initial term expired. However, this renewal did not include rights previously granted such as those given to Hitchcock for making his film. The court had to decide whether showing "Rear Window" infringed upon these newly renewed rights held by Woolrich's estate (represented by Abend). In its decision, it sided with Abend stating that once a copyright is renewed under U.S law; all previous grants of use expire unless they are specifically included in the renewal agreement. This ruling significantly impacted Hollywood studios who often relied on older works whose copyrights were about to expire or had been initially granted many years ago without considering future renewals.

In the dissenting opinion for Stewart et al. v. Abend, Justice Blackmun argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with both copyright law and precedent. He contended that when a derivative work is created under a valid grant of rights from an author, it should not be affected by later changes in ownership of the original copyright. The majority’s ruling would disrupt settled expectations and contracts in the publishing industry, leading to uncertainty and litigation over existing works which could stifle creativity rather than promote it as intended by copyright laws. Furthermore, he disagreed with their interpretation of Section 304(c) of Copyright Act; instead believing that termination rights apply only to future uses or modifications of derivative works but do not affect already legally produced copies.