Intellectual Property Law

Ninth Circuit: Karaoke is audiovisual work, so not fully covered by § 115 compulsory license

By McKee, Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.

In a decision yesterday, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's dismissal of a complaint for declaratory judgment by a karaoke device manufacturer without leave to amend for failure to state a claim.  The complaint sought a declaration that a compulsory license under § 115 of the Copyright Act was a sufficient license for a karaoke device to not only play music, but also display the lyrics in real time in coordination with the music.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the complaint, finding that the § 115 license was insufficient.  The § 115 license applies to "phonorecords," but karaoke, because of the lyrics and other content displayed in connection with the song, is an "audiovisual work," specifically excluded from the definition of phonorecords.  The court also held that the use of the lyrics also could not constitute fair use based on its commercial nature, aggreeing with a Sixth Circuit decision (blogged here).

More details of Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Publ'g after the jump.

[More]

Full post as published by FileWrapper on January 03, 2008 (boomark / email).