Tag Archives: copyright laws

Broadcasters and filmmakers may finally use Happy Birthday To You without paying royalties to Warner Music. Via the Guardian: A federal court judge in Los Angeles has declared the song Happy Birthday To You belongs in the public domain, dealing a blow to the music publishing company that has been collecting royalties from the song for decades. US district judge …

The 80s rock band Survivor is threatening to sue Mike Huckabee and/or Kim Davis for using their smash single Eye Of The Tiger today as Davis exited her Kentucky jailhouse. Billboard reports: It might be Kim Davis’ favorite hype-up song, but Survivor says it did not grant the embattled Kentucky county clerk the rights to use “Eye of the Tiger” …

Sure sounds like it. Via the New York Times: China lacks enough snow for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, environmentalists said. China is too repressive to hold the Games, detaining hundreds of lawyers just in the past month, rights campaigners said. On Friday, despite those complaints, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Beijing. Now some people are drawing …

Rand Paul entered and exited the stage today to the tune of an anti-Wall Street country song owned by Warner Brothers. So of course YouTube’s magic genie recognized the track as copyrighted material and blocked the clip from further viewing. Snicker.

Via the Los Angeles Times: A federal jury found Tuesday that the 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines” infringed on the Marvin Gaye chart-topper “Got to Give It Up,” awarding nearly $7.4 million to Gaye’s children. Jurors found against singer-songwriters Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke, but held harmless the record company and rapper T.I. The verdict capped a trial that lasted …

The children of the late Marvin Gaye are suing Robin Thicke for the profits of Blurred Lines, which has sold 15 million copies, earning $5M each for Thicke and its songwriter Pharrell Williams, who testified yesterday as the trial ended. Williams said after the song was released, he saw similarities between “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s work but said that wasn’t …

Via Billboard Magazine: On Thursday morning, the U.S. Copyright Office released a 245-page review of the music licensing regime with some bold proposals. It’s not beach reading season, though, so it’s understandable why the tome hasn’t triggered a mass frenzy just yet. But wait! The government has just suggested a change that would make it possible for Taylor Swift not …

Via Stereogum: Tom Petty has been awarded a songwriting credit on Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” which bears a close resemblance to Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” According to The Sun, the deal was settled out of court back in October, but is just coming to light now. Both Petty and singer/composer Jeff Lynne were given a 12.5% writing credit. …

Via TMZ: The church where the “I’m Not Gay No More” guy went straight is not only intolerant toward gays, they have an intense dislike for people who steal their tunes. The Church of God in Christ insists Andrew Caldwell call in the lawyers because their now-famous parishioner jazzed up his hilarious moment with background singers and released it on …

Back in 2012, Virginia-based anti-gay crackpot Eugene Delgaudio lifted the above wedding photo from the blog of a New Jersey gay couple, replaced the New York City skyline backdrop with snow-covered trees, and used the image for a flyer that attacked a pro-gay marriage candidate for the Colorado state Senate. After first sending an cease-and-desist order, in September of that …

Prince has filed million-dollar lawsuits against 22 fans who posted self-made concert videos to their Facebook pages or personal blogs. According to the suits, these fans provided links to download their clips. The “Purple Rain” singer filed a copyright lawsuit on 16 January in the Northern District of California, targeting 22 individuals he believes have committed “massive infringement and bootlegging” …

AMC Theatres has banned patrons from wearing Google Glass after Homeland Security yanked a patron wearing the device out of one of their Ohio multiplexes. Via the Guardian: Writing anonymously on The Gadgeteer blog, the man explained that halfway into the screening at an AMC in Columbus, Ohio, he was hauled out by police and officers from homeland security’s ICE …

British pop group The XX says it will sue after its music was used without permission in an ad promoting Crotia’s coming national referendum on same-sex marriage. Gay Star News reports: In The Name Of The Family, a Christian anti-gay group, decided to release the commercial calling for a ban on gay marriage. A referendum on banning marriage equality will …

Anti-gay crackpots are ganging up to flag the YouTube videos posted by Right Wing Watch, which always eventually wins back the clips in question, as they did when Pat Robertson’s stormtroopers tried to squash his “AIDS ring” video. The freak shows know this, but they continue their campaign. Sign the petition posted today by People For The American Way.

Kudos, as always, to Right Wing Watch.

Britain’s Ministry Of Sound label has sued the music streaming service Spotify, claiming that user playlists that mirror the track listings on their compilations constitute a copyright violation. Chief executive Lohan Presencer claims that his company has been asking Spotify to remove the playlists – some of which include “Ministry of Sound” in their titles – since 2012.  “It’s been …

Right Wing Watch has posted excerpts from the 700 Club many, many times over the years. But very curiously, today’s now infamous clip of Pat Robertson’s douchetastic lie about gay men has been yanked from YouTube due to a copyright claim by the Christian Broadcasting Network. We’re confident that RWW will soon be able to re-post the clip as it …

Last week Robin Thicke filed a preemptive lawsuit against the estate of Marvin Gaye, just in case they decided to sue over the alleged similarities between Gaye’s 1977 smash Got To Give It Up and Thicke’s Blurred Lines, which remains at #1 today for the 11th consecutive week. Today Billboard reports that Gaye’s family had rejected a six-figure offer from …

Via press release from the Southern Poverty Law Center: Two pro-gun groups conspired with an anti-gay hate group to create political mailers that used a gay couple’s copyrighted engagement photo to attack candidates in the 2012 Colorado Republican primaries, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which filed a motion with the court today seeking to add the pro-gun …

Thanks to Good As You blogger Jeremy Hooper, singer/songwriter Katie Herzig has forced YouTube to yank the promotional video for NOM’s hate march on the Supreme Court.  Herzig told Hooper that she “definitely supports marriage equality” and did not give NOM permission to use her music.  Hit the second link and check out her tunes!