Burstyn's company was the plaintiff in Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that motion pictures are protected by the First Amendment.

The case arose after New York revoked the license for Roberto Rossellini's film The Miracle on the grounds that it was "sacrilegious."

• He was a leading U.S. distributor of foreign films, including Rome, Open City (1945), Paisà (1946), and Bicycle Thieves (1948).

• He died in 1953 aboard a flight from New York to Europe.