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Music Copyright The Copyright Act

Haug Partners LLP

Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy: Plaintiffs Can Recover Damages for Timely Claims of Copyright Infringement Dating Back More...

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On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court in Warner Chappell, Music Inc. v. Nealy settled a longstanding circuit split and ruled 6-3 that the Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to recover damages for any timely claim, no matter...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

I Don’t Get You, Babe - The Curious Copyright Case of Sonny & Cher & Mary

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The 1970s were the heyday of the now-extinct television genre known as the variety show: a weekly extravaganza headlined by a well-known entertainer, generally accompanied by a supporting cast of singers, dancers and...more

Wiley Rein LLP

Supreme Court Determines Some Copyright Owners Can Recover Damages Beyond the Statute of Limitations

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On May 9, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Warner Chappell Music Inc. et al. v. Sherman Nealy et al. (No. 22-1078), holding that copyright owners can recover damages going back more than three years based...more

Venable LLP

Top Ten Current Key Copyright Issues and Pitfalls Affecting Nonprofits

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With decades of experience assisting nonprofit clients with copyright issues, we periodically like to offer refreshers on key copyright issues and highlight current trends we see nonprofit organizations encounter with...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - February 2024

Thank you for reading the February 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the advertising rights of luxury resellers and important updates to the Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Skeptical of the Second Circuit: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Copyright Damages

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On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, an appeal of the Eleventh Circuit’s determination that a copyright plaintiff can recover damages for infringement occurring more...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Time's Up: Supreme Court to Grapple with Damages Dilemma in Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy

On February 21, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. et al. v. Nealy et al. The case involves whether plaintiff music producer Sherman Nealy may recover damages for...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Whose Song Is It Anyway? Questions about Samples in Flo Rida and will.i.am’s Hit “In the Ayer” Soar to the Supreme Court

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On September 29, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, a case that should resolve a split among the U.S. Courts of Appeal relating to the scope of damages available to copyright...more

White & Case LLP

Website terms of service – enforceable or preempted?

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There is a deepening circuit split on whether the US Copyright Act preempts contract claims arising from terms of service. A recent petition to the US Supreme Court by a song lyrics website highlights this, with potentially...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Unhappy Together: No Right of Public Performance under California Copyright Law

Addressing for the first time whether California law establishes a right of public performance for the owners of pre-1972 sound recordings, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found no such right for music and...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Nicki Minaj Safeguards the Right for Artists to Experiment with Unlicensed Work

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On September 16, 2020, California federal judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that Nicki Minaj’s use of Tracy Chapman’s copyrighted work in the creation of Minaj’s song “Sorry” was fair use. “Sorry” interpolated Chapman’s...more

McDermott Will & Emery

“Can’t Hold Us” Liable: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win Affirmance in Copyright Suit

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment on the issue of copyright infringement and an award of attorneys’ fees against the plaintiff under the Copyright Act. Although the Court noted...more

Snell & Wilmer

Led Zeppelin Ruling Overturns Ninth Circuit’s ‘Inverse Ratio Rule’

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On March 9, 2020, Led Zeppelin won a major copyright battle over claims that they stole part of their signature song “Stairway to Heaven.” The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling en banc, upheld a 2016 jury verdict that...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

The Big Three Sue an ISP for Enabling Copyright Infringement

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The so-called Big Three record companies—Universal, Sony, and Warner—have sued to hold an internet service provider liable for facilitating its customers’ copyright infringement....more

Brooks Pierce

Music Law 101: Common Music Licenses

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In our previous posts in our Music Law 101 series, we have covered the basics of copyright law, including the scope of copyright protection, copyright ownership, the exclusive rights of copyright, the duration of copyright...more

Dentons

Long Term Care Facilities and Music Licensing

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The ability to play music for residents of a long-term care facility can be important to their enjoyment of life and overall happiness. However, the facilities must be aware of the copyright laws and the rights of others when...more

Sunstein LLP

January 2019 IP Update - Digital Resale: Where New Technology Stumbles Over Old Law

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A purchaser of an article of commerce expects to be able to freely sell it regardless of any intellectual property rights that it may embody. The resale of digital files, however, runs into a special barrier that ReDigi...more

Brooks Pierce

Music Law 101: How Long Does Copyright Protection Last?

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Once a copyright is created, protection generally lasts for 70 years after the death of the author and in some cases 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. That’s a long time! After that time, the copyright...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Public Domain Opens Again in the United States for the First Time Since 1998

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As we previously reported on our blog, the doors to the public domain will open in the United States for the first time since 1998. On January 1, 2019, any works published in the United States in 1923 or prior are freed from...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Buyer, Keeper, Forever? Second Circuit Affirms Decision That Music Files Purchased Online Cannot Be Resold Online

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The Second Circuit Court of Appeals returned a favorable ruling for major record companies in a copyright infringement case on December 12, 2018. The ruling came down in Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc., a lawsuit...more

Jones Day

Music to Copyright Owners' Ears: Second Circuit Affirms Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc.

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A federal appeals court finds that online music service ReDigi infringed Capitol Records' copyrights by allowing users to resell legally purchased iTunes files. Digital music files may not be lawfully resold, according to...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Second Circuit: Sales of Pre-Owned Digital Music Infringe Copyright

A copyright owner’s exclusive rights, codified at Section 106 of the Copyright Act, include the right to control both the reproduction and the distribution of a work. The exclusive distribution right is tempered by the “first...more

Snell & Wilmer

Digital Music File Resales Infringe Record Labels’ Copyrights

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On December 12, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling favoring several major record company plaintiffs in a copyright infringement case against a digital music resale site. Defendant...more

Brooks Pierce

Music Law 101: What Rights Does A Copyright Owner Have?

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So you’ve already written and recorded a song and determined who owns it, but now what can you as an owner do with it? What rights in the song do you have, that no one else does? The owner of the copyright in a work has...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No New Copyright for Digital Remasters

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in reversing a grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, found that digitally remastered pre-1972 sound recordings were not entitled to protection under federal law as...more

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