Jay Z Fights Back Copyright Suit Over Sampling of ‘Oh’ in “Run This Town”

Jay Z filed a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Record label TufAmerica before a New York federal district court. The suit alleged that Jay Z and Rihanna’s hit song “Run This Town” sampled the Eddie Bo song “Hook & Sling” without authorization.

According to the filing, Jay Z allegedly misappropriated ‘oh’ sound from “Hook & Sling” throughout “Run This Town.” In filing the motion to dismiss, Jay Z’s legal team argued that the claim was “misguided” as it was not …

September 23, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Avatar Avoids Another Lawsuit

On Wednesday, September 17, Judge Furman of the Southern District of New York federal court granted a motion dismissing claims against James Cameron for alleged copyright infringement in the 2009 blockbuster film Avatar.

The judge’s dismissal relieves Cameron of the fourth lawsuit in the past year stemming from the film Avatar. This cause of action was brought by Roger Dean, an English artist, whose works include album covers for the bands Yes, Uriah Heep, and Asia. Dean sought more than $50 million for …

August 15, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Court Says Kanye West Didn’t Steal Pryor’s “get down”

A California federal court dismissed most of the claims in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against Kanye West. The court reasoned that an average listener would not recognize the saying “get down” because of the short length of the samples.

While it is well known that West’s big hit “Gold Digger” is buildt around “I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles, the lawsuit claimed it also contains samples of another song written by David Pryor and Thunder & Lightening. Last year two children of Pryor …

July 18, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Seth MacFarlane Sued for Stealing Teddy Bear Idea for the Hit Movie Ted

Bengal Mangle Productions (“Bengal”) filed a copyright infringement suit against Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the 2012 hit comedy Ted. The complaint alleged MacFarlane stole the idea of a foul-mouthed teddy bear living in an adult human world from a similar character named Charlie in Bengal’s 2008 screenplay Acting School Academy.

Bengal described the Charlie character as one that “lives in a human, adult world with all human friends. Charlie has a penchant for drinking, smoking, prostitutes, and is a generally vulgar yet humorous …

June 23, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Music

Judge Dismisses Copyright Lawsuit Against Lady Gaga

“Simply listening to the songs, as the law requires, reveals their utter lack of similarity,” wrote U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen in his decision to dismiss the lawsuit. Lady Gaga’s legal battle started back in 2011 when a Chicago singer Rebecca Francescatti sued the pop star alleging Gaga plagiarized parts of her 1999 song “Juda” for Lady Gaga’s hit “Judas” released in 2011.

In a copyright infringement case, the court looks at whether the defendant had access to the plaintiff’s work and how similar the …

June 10, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

The Jury Awards Beastie Boys $1.7 Million

The jury in the copyright infringement suit brought by the Beastie Boys awarded the band $1.7 million, a bit short of $2 million it was seeking but much higher than $125,000 defendant Monster said it may owe to the group.

The Beastie Boys sued an energy drink maker Monster for its unauthorized use of the band’s music in a promotional video. In the complaint filed for this case, the group stated that

“[t]he public was confused into believing that plaintiffs sponsored, endorsed and are associated

June 8, 2014 Advertising / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Music

Beastie Boys Trial Against Monster Energy Drinks Begins

In 2012, the Beastie Boys brought suit against Monster Energy Drink, claiming both copyright infringement and unfair competition resulting from Monster’s use of their songs in an online promotional video. The Beastie Boys are seeking $2 Million in damages.

The controversy stems from a promotional video about a snowboarding competition in Canada called “Ruckus in the Rockies,” which is organized and sponsored by Monster. After the event, Monster posted a video online of the competition and the after-party, including a mash-up mix performed by DJ …

Tarantino Withdraws IP Lawsuit Against Gawker Over Script Leak

Barely a few weeks ago Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained director Quentin Tarantino filed an amended complaint in his lawsuit against the website Gawker, alleging that the site had committed copyright infringement by allowing a copy of his latest script, The Hateful Eight, to leak on the internet. Now, Tarantino and his lawyers have decided to walk away, voluntarily dismissing the lawsuit.

The controversy began after Gawker posted a downloadable PDF version of Tarantino’s script online. The two-time Oscar winner responded by filing …

Google & Viacom Settle Seven Year Old Copyright Suit

On March 18, media giants Google and Viacom announced the settlement of a seven year old copyright dispute regarding content posted on YouTube. In 2007, Viacom sued Google for copyright infringement accusing the company of posting Viacom programing on YouTube without permission. The moneyless settlement ends the dispute with what the two companies are referring to as a collaborative effort.

The original suit was filed against YouTube, a Google owned company, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for the alleged infringements. Viacom accused YouTube …

Judge Nixes Jury Verdict in EA Sports ‘Madden’ Infringement Case

On January 22, 2014, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer overturned a multi-million dollar jury award against EA sports in a copyright infringement case. The underlying action was originally brought against the video game giant by Robin Antonick, a programmer who was initially given credit and royalties for creating the first edition of ‘Madden Football’ in 1988. Antonick alleged that subsequent versions of the game were created using his own source code, violating copyright infringement laws and entitling him to compensation. A federal jury agreed with …