Copyright Law

This one goes to eleven

By Andrew Raff, Esq.

As a 14 year old, Coleman Hickey made a stop-motion music video of Spinal Tap's "Tonight I'm Going to Rock You, Tonight" using Legos.

The New York Times reports that Spinal Tap sought to include the video on a new concert DVD, but that Lego denied permission. Lego Rejects a Bit Part in a Spinal Tap DVD

"As final editing was being done on a concert DVD of the tour, which included footage from the video projected on stage, Lego declined to grant permission to use its figures, which are protected by copyright.

"'We love that our fans are so passionate and so creative with our products,' said Julie Stern, a spokeswoman for Lego Systems, the United States division of the Lego Group, a Danish company founded in the 1930s. 'But it had some inappropriate language, and the tone wasn't appropriate for our target audience of kids 6 to 12.'"

The Times quotes Tap's attorney, Kia Kamran, saying that the band would have likely prevailed in a copyright infringement suit, because Hickey's video "does not show the brand's logo and is satirical," but the band "did not deem the fight worth the expense."

Spinal Tap, Lego and copyright infringement together in one story!

Full post as published by IPTAblog on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).