Article re: Musical Lyrics Copyright Infringement Cases

Nicholas Tsui, How Similar Is Too Similar: The Predictability of Court Decisions in Musical Lyrics Copyright Cases, 62 J. Copyright Soc'y 307 (2015).

The author finds that despite the various ways in which different courts have interpreted the "substantial similarity" test in copyright infringement cases involving lyrics, the similiarity judgments in courts throughout the country were actually quite consistenent.  The author states that he was able to accurately predict the court's outcome over 90% of the time using a simple similarity metric that counted overlapping words, phrases and lines.  "My results indicate that courts' decisions on substantial similarity follow a relatively simple pattern analysis that while fact-specific was not so nuanced as to be unpredictable."

Article re Registering Multiple Works In A Single Copyright Registration

Marc Jacobson and Marc Pellegrino, "Registering Multiple Musical Works in a Single Copyright Registration", NYSBA Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 13-16 (Summer 2013).

This article clarifies:

"...if music is being commercially released exclusively via sale of a complete album, one is only entitled to one statutory damage award for any infringements therein.  If, on the other hand, the individual songs on that album, which were registered as part of the single application, are also 'issued' individually, those individually released songs gain full statutory damage protection."

The article was a reply to an earlier published article wherein the author had suggested that a single copyright application for more than one work can retain all the legal remedies afforded by the Copyright Act while saving money by avoiding multiple registration fees. Citing Bryant v. Media Rights Prods., Inc., 603 F.3d 135 (2d Cir. 2010), and Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC, 2011 WL 1311771 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), the article suggests that traditional registration of each track and each song may still provide the best possible protection for sound recordings and musical compositions.

Video Games, Apps, and The Copyright Act Article

Self-promotion: I wrote an article about video games, apps, and the Copyright Act that was published by the ABA.  See,  Jordan Greenberger, "Young Lawyer's Corner: Video Games, Apps, and the Copyright Act" (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Business Torts, February 19, 2013) (link).

Article re: Copyright Termination in 2013

See Ryan Davis, "Copyright Termination For '70s Hits Won't Spark Lawsuit Fever" (Law360, New York; Nov. 26, 2012).  (Link to article; registration required).

Article summary (first paragraph): "Musicians who recorded hit songs in the late 1970s will gain the right to reclaim ownership of their work starting in January under a 1978 copyright law provision, and while record labels are expected to fight to retain control of lucrative music, 2013 is unlikely to bring a flood of litigation, attorneys said."

The article concerns the reclamation of rights by authors that were licensed or transferred after 1978, pursuant to section 203 of the Copyright Act.  Generally, termination rights may be effected after 35 years from the grant.  Id.  Thirty-five years from 1978 is...2013!

Lawyers interviewed for the article predicted that there will be few actually litigated cases, and instead termination notices will serve as a jumping-off point for contract re-negotiations between artists and record labels.

RIAA File-Sharing Suits - FYI

OTCS found an interesting article noting that the RIAA has filed 26,000 lawsuits over the past four years against music file sharers. The article summarizes "how the litigation works", and also comments on the "growing cadre of small firms and solo practitioners that has popped up to defend people who claim they have been wrongly accused."

Ross Todd, "Calling the Tunes - A Minnesota Verdict is Sweet Music to a Denver Firm" in The American Lawyer at 20 (Dec. 2007). Article not available on-line.