Previously, I wrote and have covered in the TLO live webinars an interesting copyright case that could affect scholastic and independent music programs nationwide. That case is Tresona Multimedia, LLC v. Burbank High School Vocal Music Association, Inc., et al. in federal court in the the Central District of California.
One of the most startling claims that Tresona alleged was that the choir’s booster organization can be held liable for alleged copyright infringement involving the school ensemble's performances. This was a novel theory and to my knowledge never tested before.
Fortunately, sanity has intervened in this case. The booster organization in this case filed a motion for summary judgment, which if granted, would have excused them from the case. They were successful.
On February 22, 2017, US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled that the boosters’ motion for summary judgment was granted. The legal standard for granting a summary judgment motion in federal court is basically that if the judge or jury assumed all the facts that the plaintiff alleged were true, that no reasonable jury would agree with the plaintiff’s legal theory. In other words, that the plaintiff’s legal theory was so substantively weak that no one could rule in their favor.
In so doing, Judge Wilson rejected Tresona's legal theory that a booster organization can beheld liable for copyright infringement alleged against a performing ensemble which the boosters’ financially support. This is sound policy and can be summed up by the following quote from Judge Wilson’s opinion:
"To find that the Boosters Club exercised control over Greene and Carroll would be analogous to finding that a high school football team's boosters club could tell the coach what plays to run."
To read the entire opinion, click here.
