Intellectual Property Law

Ellen’s Dances: Infringing?

By Tim Armstrong, Derek Bambauer, and William McGeveran.

Reuters reports that he major record labels have sued the producers of The Ellen DeGeneres Show because they do not secure copyright permission to play the songs when Ellen dances around like a goof (and sometimes her guests do too).

I draw three lessons:

1. When someone accuses you of infringement and asks why you did not obtain legally required licenses, do not reply, as Ellen’s producers allegedly did, that you don’t “roll that way.” Otherwise, your adversary will reply:

“As sophisticated consumers of music, Defendants knew full well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act, and under state law for the pre-1972 recordings, they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully”

2. Despite the usual tendency of major TV and film studios to be much more cautious than necessary about IP clearance and licensing, sometimes they screw up too. Even when they are, as the plaintiffs point out, “sophisticated consumers of music.”

3. I always wondered if there were some legal remedy for those dances. Once again, IP comes to the rescue.

Full post as published by Info/Law on September 15, 2009 (boomark / email).