Intellectual Property Law

Fair Use? Pop Rocks the Steelers

By Mike Madison

The Pittsburgh Steelers are on their way to a seventh Super Bowl appearance, and their international fan base is well on its way to raising its intensity level from the baseline (absolutely manic) to 11.

The Steelers songbook is filled almost to the brim by virtue of earlier trips to the big game and the local expectation that the Super Bowl is always just around the corner.  But a local band called the Pop Rocks has a new Steelers song and video out, to the tune of Pat Benatar’s classic “Heartbreaker.”  It’s destined to become a classic. 

Here’s a copyright law hypothetical:  Does the adaptation infringe the copyright in the original composition?

See this story about the band.

No Tags

Full post as published by Madisonian.net on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).