Don Henley sues Senate Candidate

Don Henley, of The Eagles, is suing Republican Senate candidate Charles DeVore for using parody's of Henley's songs "The Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants to Do is Danoce" in two campaign videos without permission. DeVore has responded saying that the use is within his first amendment freedom of political speech. You can read the article here.

Comment: It is likely DeVore will prevail because parody is allowed as fair use under the US Copyright act.

Priate Bay Founders Found Guilty

The four founders of the BitTorrent Site, Pirate Bay, have been found guilty in Sweden of promoting copyright infringement. They have each been sentenced to one year in prison and must pay a fine of $3.5 million. This verdict appears to have lead to thousands of people protesting in Sweden. The decision is controversial because Pirate Bay does not actually host an infringing material, it only indexes where material can be found. The U.K. paper the Telegraph has a detailed article on the legal implications of this decision.


Video of Pirate Bay founder speaking on verdict:

Coldplay: Copycats or Just Pretentious?

The battle over Coldplay's song "Viva La Vida" continues with charges from Joe Satriani that Coldplay copied his 2004 song "If I Could Fly". Coldplay filed a response to Satriani's copyright infringement suit with the court saying that they could not have copied the song because Satriani's song "lacks the originality" needed to be given copyright protection. Check out an article on it here.

Note: In order for something to receive copyright protection it must be an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium. If one cannot show that their work is 1) a work of authorship that is 2) original and 3) fixed in a tangible medium, then that work will not receive copyright protection.

"Thriller" Musical Runs Into Legal Trouble

According to this article, the musical based on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video has been put on hold due to a pending law suit. Director / Co-writer of the music video, John Landis, has apparently never received any share of the profits Mr. Jackson received for selling the property to Nederlander Organization. Landis has sued Michael Jackson to recover the money he is owed, effectively putting the production on hold.

Apple removes DRM Copy Protection from iTunes

Apple announced today that they would be removing Digital Rights Management (DRM) Copy Protection from 8 million of the 10 million songs that they currently sell via iTunes. This now makes the majority of music sold through online retailers DRM free (something Amazon has been doing since they started selling downloadable content). Apple is also expected to roll out a new tiered pricing strategy similar to Amazon.com with songs ranging from $0.79 to $1.29. Songs purchased prior to today can be upgraded to DRM free for $0.30 each (or for free by burning them on a cd and then importing them back on to your computer).

Lil' Wayne Sued for Copyright Infringement

According to Billboard.com, Lil' Wayne has been sued by Urband & Lazar Music Publishing for sampling the Karma Ann Swanepoel's song "Once" in his song "I Feel Like Dying" without permission. Lil' Wayne's record label claims they tried to negotiate a license before the songs release but were not successful. Lil' Wayne's attorney's are seeking more time from the court to gather all the documentation.

Commentary:
It seems to be a pretty sloppy move on the part of Lil' Wayne's record label to release a song before they have the rights to use a sample. An artist of his stature has the best resources available to him and this is just a rookie mistake by the people at his label.

Harvard Law Professor Counter-sues RIAA

Harvard law professor, Charles R. Nesson, filed a counter suit last Friday against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) challenging the constitutionality of the RIAA’s efforts against those caught downloading music from file-sharing services. Charles Nessos will be defending Joel Tenenbaum, a Boston University graduate student charged in 2005 with downloading seven songs from a file-sharing network. Nesson claims that the RIAA's tactics are “an unconstitutional delegation by Congress of executive prosecutorial powers to private hands”. Though the RIAA did not comment on this specific case, they did say the make “every effort possible to be fair and reasonable”. For more information check out this article from the Harvard Crimson.

The Hives Sued for Copyright Infringement

Jason Shapiro, formerly of the glam-rock band Celebrity Skin, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Swedish rockers the Hives claiming that their song "Tick Tick Boom Boom" has infringed his song "Why You" which he recorded with his band the Roofies in 1997. Shapiro said the two tunes were analyzed by a musicologist who said "the part in question -the main riff and vocal melody- was very similar and its uniqueness led him to believe it wasn't just a coincidence.” You can check out the LA Times article on it here.

In order to prove Copyright Infringement, Shapiro must prove three things. 1) He is the owner of a valid Copyright, 2) there was actual infringement, and 3) the infringement was substantial. 1) Most likely Shapiro owns the copyright in the whole song but the most important thing here is whether the riff and piece of the vocal melody are unique enough to afford their own copyright protection. If the court says they are not because they are too minimal and not unique then there is no case. 2) If it is established that there is a valid copyright then they must prove there was actual copying and the court will look how similar the songs are and if the band had access to the original song. I think this will be the hardest thing for Shapiro to prove because the Hives being from Sweden probably have never heard Shapiro's local Los Angeles band therefore did not have access to their song. More facts will be need obviously to make this determination. 3) Lastly, if they can prove there was copying then it is up to a jury to decide how substantially similar the two songs are. More facts are need to know how this case will come out but I think there is a good chance that the Hives will prevail.

You can check out the Roofies song "Why You" here.

You can check the Hives music video for "Tick Tick Boom Boom" below:

President Bush Signs Controversial Anti-Piracy Law

President Bush has signed a controversial bill that aims to strengthen Anti-Piracy laws in the United States. The bill creates greater penalties, including asset forfeitures, for copyright infringement and creates an Intellectual Property Czar who will report directly to the President on issues of copyright and anti-piracy. The bill was strongly supported by the RIAA and MPAA. Click here for more info on the bill.

Featured Artists Coalition Fights for Artist's Rights

Radiohead, Billy Bragg, Gang of Four, and other artists have banned together to form the Featured Artists Coalition. The Featured Artists Coalition is fighting for more copyright control and higher revenue sharing for artists, rather than music labels. Here is the group's manifesto:

No one knows what the structure of the music industry will look like in future. But all artists face the same challenges in today’s digital world, so we need to speak with one voice to help artists strike a new bargain with record companies, digital distributors and others. Together, the Featured Artists’ Coalition will stand up for all artists by engaging with government, music and technology companies, and collection societies, arguing for fair play and, where necessary, exposing unfair practices.

Interesting to note that the group is made up of mostly (if not all) British artists and performers.

Jay Bentley (Bad Religion) expresses his view of file sharing

Jay Bentley of Bad Religion recently expressed his views on file sharing in an interview with thepunksite.com.

"How many catalogue records are you going to have to buy before you get fucking fed up? I had vinyl, I had CD, I had mini-disc, I had DATs, I had all this shit. They make me buy all this stuff and I’m paying three hundred and fifty dollars every time a new player comes out because now I can’t my music on anything but this. So that’s to blame as well. Eventually people just got tired of getting the shaft from all of these people and in the end the only one that really suffers is the artist. That’s a shame.

It’s a standoff of do you want to support the label and the band that you like? Even I’m starting to wonder if there’s a way where people will feel like they’re strictly supporting the artist. Even if it was something like having a little button on a MySpace page that says “if you like us, push the button and give us a dollar so that we can get gas to go to the next city because we want to go on tour.” There has to be some sort of incentive for people to A) want the band to come to them but also for the band to want to go out. When gas hit four dollars a gallon down in the States, in the newspaper it was actually a front page article about how indie bands can no longer tour because gas is too expensive. That’s pretty fucked.

So it’s not the bands’ fault, and it’s not even the fans’ fault. The fans are doing what’s expected because they should be doing what they want. The bands should be doing what they want but there should be a way for them to get together and say “we, as fans, like your band. We want to support your work."

The University of Copyright Infringement

As the new school year rolls around, many students may be wondering what Universities are doing to appease the RIAA in the matter of file-sharing. This article explains just that.

"Chinese Democracy" leads to Arrest

Kevin Skwerl, the blogger who leaked 9 supposed songs from the long awaited Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy", was arrested yesterday on suspicion of violating Federal Copyright Law.

and the God said "Let there be Rock"

Looks like the Christian community is ready to cash in on the Guitar Hero / Rock Band craze. Coming this September is the knock-off "Guitar Praise" featuring "hit songs from popular Christian rock bands". Check it out here.

M.I.A. accused of using Terrorist imagery in her videos

Interscope has sued hip hop artist Deleon after he posted a Youtube video accusing M.I.A. of using terrorist imagery. You can read the article here.

50 Cent sues Taco Bell

Rapper 50 Cent is suing Taco Bell after Taco Bell launched a new hip hop themed ad campaign encouraging 50 Cent to change his name to "79 Cent","89 Cent", or "99 Cent" to coincide with Taco Bell's value meal. No surprise here that the company did not ask permission from 50 Cent to use his name in the ad campaign. 50 feels that this commercial hurts his legitimacy as an artist. You can read Rolling Stone's thoughts on this here and watch the ad below:

Peer to Peer programs cause leaky computers

It appears that file-sharing programs such as Limewire are not that safe. Many of these programs allow people to access information on your computer other than what you allow them to access. Many files, including records on social security numbers, have been leaked onto the internet through the use of these programs. Check out the Washington Post's article about this.

Stealing Books Lowers Student Loans

College students have been illegally downloading textbooks which have been scanned and put on torrent sites and the publishers are starting to fight back. An interesting article on this can be viewed here.

RIAA says evidence is not need for infringment cases

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) urged a federal judge on Monday to leave intact the $222,000 verdict against Jammie Thomas in the first file-sharing suit to go to trial. The RIAA argues that evidence of actual distribution (people downloading the files from a shared folder) is not needed, only evidence that the files were available (the files were available in the shared folder to be downloaded) is needed. This brings out an interesting point, the court has said that it is legal to download copies of copyrighted material, and the question remains whether it is illegal to merely upload copyrighted material or to upload it and have evidence of some one downloading it from you. So if you are going to file-share, not making your files available in your shared folder may keep the RIAA off your back. A public hearing is set for August 4. Read more about it at Wired.

Candadian Politicians Critical of New Canadian Copyright Bill

The new Canadian Copyright bill, C-61, which is similar to the unanimously passed US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, has been getting a lot of criticism from Canadian politicians. Among the criticism is its limit to personal use (making copies for yourself) at the whim of the copyright holder (usually big business). You can see some of their comments below: