In September of 2007, Australian quiz show Spicks and Specks asked contestants to guess the hidden children’s song in Men at Work’s popular “Down Under”, unknowingly igniting a copyright battle between Men at Work and “Kookaburra (Sits in the Old Gum Tree)” copyright holder, Larrikin Music Publishing. Larrikin Music Publishing had claimed a flute riff [...]
Posts Tagged ‘music law’Men at Work Pay Up for Kookaburra RiffSunday, July 25th, 2010Dispute Arises Over Coca-Cola’s World Cup Campaign AnthemFriday, July 9th, 2010As World Cup 2010 comes into the final stretch in South Africa, Coca-Cola faces litigation involving the Spanish mix of its campaign anthem, “Wavin’ Flag”. “Wavin’ Flag” was originally written by Somali-born K’Naan, and is used by Coca-Cola for their 2010 FIFA World Cup marketing campaign. Coca-Cola released an English version of the song, as [...] United States GAO Weighs In On Performance Rights ActFriday, June 18th, 2010Big news about the Performance Rights Act and the future of sound recording copyrights in the U.S! The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently weighed in on the issue of the Performance Rights Act, which would make terrestrial radio stations subject to paying royalties to the sound recording copyright owners. For a discussion of [...] Google sues small indie music labelThursday, May 20th, 2010Earlier this month Google filed a complaint in California Northern District Court, asking a federal judge for declaratory judgment in the search giant’s recent copyright infringement lawsuit with Blues Destiny Records. Google’s complaint follows from an initial lawsuit brought by Florida-based Blues Destiny Records in December 2009. Microsoft and Rapidshare were also named as defendants [...] No Doubt win latest round in lawsuit against ActivisionWednesday, May 12th, 2010The latest development in No Doubt’s lawsuit against Activision occurred Thursday April 15, when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kenji Machida issued a tentative ruling rejecting Activision’s 1st Amendment defense claims in its use of No Doubt avatars in the “Band Hero” game. No Doubt first filed a lawsuit against Activision following the release [...] Joe Satriani and Coldplay Have SettledWednesday, September 9th, 2009Joe Satriani has dismissed his lawsuit against Coldplay for copyright infringement on Coldplay’s mega-hit, Viva La Vida. The settlement details remain private, and there is a chance that we will never know how much money Coldplay paid over to Satriani in exchange for the dismissal. A few months ago, Bob Morgan (from Porter Wright Morris [...] The Importance Of Early RegistrationFriday, May 15th, 2009I can’t tell you how many times I see clients who forget to register their copyrights, or do not register their copyrights soon enough. So, how soon must a work be registered? The quick answer is within three months of publication. The primary advantage to registering within three months of publication is eligibility for the [...] The Royalties You Never Knew You HadFriday, May 15th, 2009If you, or your band, are the primary artist on a recording that has been played on satellite radio, digital cable music channels, or internet radio, Sound Exchange may have money waiting for you. Likewise, if you sang, performed, or otherwise worked on a record that was in the Soundscan top 100 (or maybe even [...] |
