Copyright Litigation: Victory for Music Educator and Music Boosters in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

The Burbank High School show choir, which was the basis for the television series Glee, has been involved in a long running copyright litigation battle waged by Tresona Multimedia, LLC (“Tresona”). A significant decision was published earlier today by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is embedded below. This is a fact intensive post, so please read closely.

Summary: Tresona is a music licensing company. Burbank (Ca.) High School has several show choirs. In 2017, Tresona filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Brett Carroll, the Burbank HS choir director, the Burbank HS Vocal Music Association Boosters Club, several Booster Club parents. Why the plaintiff chose to name the individuals, particularly the Booster Club parents, is a mystery.

All of the facts that follow are integral to the result that the Court reached: The performers are Burbank High School students. Because the costs of the ensemble are not covered by the School District’s budget, the Boosters Club (a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization) holds several fundraising concerts. One of these is an annual show choir competition. The Boosters sell tickets and advertisements in the programs for these events.

During one particular such fundraiser, one of the Burbank HS choirs performed a two minute excerpt of “Magic”, by Olivia Newtown-John. Burbank’s performance of “Magic” was contained in a medley of other songs. Similarly, Burbank HS performed a sixteen second excerpt of “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warner, which runs four minutes and twenty two seconds in total.

Read more

iPhone Photography & News Outlets

This is how a simple, everyday experience of one man and his smart phone turns into big dollars. In short, a person (not a professional photographer), takes a picture of a criminal defendant. That picture is newsworthy. The picture is posted to Instragram. Cox Media uses the picture without first licensing it. The Plaintiff, who has now registered the photograph with the US Copyright Office, sues for infringement and wins the liability phase of the case on summary judgment. The Defendant asserts a fair use defense and loses.

This is the tale of Cruz x. Cox Media Grp., LLC, Docket No. 18-CV-1041 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. A copy of the Court’s Memorandum and Order appears below.

Here are a streamlined version of the facts, as presented by the Court in its opinion granting the Plaintiff’s summary judgment motion:

Read more

Copyright Law Update: Led Zeppelin Prevails at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

For years, the members of Led Zeppelin have been defending a copyright lawsuit brought by the trustees of The Estate of Randy Wolfe, which alleged that Zeppelin had infringed on the Estate’s copyright of Taurus, which was a song written by Wolfe and performed by his band Spirit in the late 1960s.

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an en banc ruling which ultimately sides with Led Zeppelin. The Ninth Circuit was considering the Estate’s appeal of the District Court ruling after a jury determined that no copyright infringement occurred. This is a vindication for Led Zeppelin and likely ends this claim. The Estate’s only recourse now is to file a petition for Certiorari with the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court receives tens of thousands of petitions a year, and can only grant a hearing in an extremely small percentage of those matters.

Read more

Podcast Episode: Taylor Swift, the Power of the Audience and Licensing Agreements

Recording artist Taylor Swift is waging a very public campaign against the company that owns many of her master recordings. Her audience seemingly is following suit. Social media is providing people a way to broadcast threats. We live in divided times.

A private equity firm ends up with control of Ms. Swift’s master recordings.

Analysis of the real root of this story is in this episode: the negotiation of the original licensing or production contracts and how those contracts can control the future conduct of the parties. Listen to the episode for more detail.