How To Lose $7 Million In 3 Minutes

Remember when Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines played five times an hour on the radio?  My favorite part of the song was when he ripped off Got To Give It Up by Marvin Gaye.  Gaye’s family’s favorite part was when they won the case for over $7 million plus smaller filings for individual damages.  (Knopper, 2015).  Copyright infringement isn’t covered under your creative interpretation, and neither is your bank account.  As an indie artist, it’s easy to take or remake other people’s ideas.  It’s harder to get the right to do so.  Because cases like that one have opened the door to other copyright infringement cases, artists have to be even more careful.  Gaye’s family won the case based on a comparison of sheet music between the songs.  Copywriting both the recording and the sheet music of any original composition is important for every songwriter.  If there is a riff or musical idea you find in another song, you can request rights to use it.  It is likely that you will end up sharing royalties, but you may simply pay a flat fee to the copyright holder.  At the end of the day, a little paperwork can save you a lot of hassle.  Make sure your copyrights and licenses are in order, and give credit where credit is due.

This doesn’t just happen in music.  Disney went to court over Frozen this year.  A short film director claimed that Disney stole the Frozen plot from her short film, The Snowman.  While she lost her case, twice, it is an example that intellectual property rights can be very broad and easy to allegedly infringe.  Even though the case lost, Disney settled outside of court to avoid future lawsuits and to protect rights to a sequel.  (Li, 2015). Film makers who want to remake a story, and who are obviously doing so, must request rights.  If they do not want to request rights, they need to be prepared to defend the intent, characters, storyline, and images portrayed in their work.  Beyond that, film makers must be careful with music, famous locations, and anything else for which someone may claim ownership.  (Butler, 2007.)

This even happens in graphic design.  Logos using generic objects, such as Apple Co.’s apple, or numbers, can have unintentionally similar appearances.  Sony sued Clearwire Co. in 2010 over a very similar color scheme and style in their logo.  Apple pursues companies that use an apple in their logo in an attempt to avoid brand confusion, even when the product or market is entirely different.  (Bogdan, 2011).  Unfortunately, there a countless common objects that are vulnerable to infringement cases when used between companies.  Using a unique color scheme and font when applicable, researching potential similar logos, and protecting your design will all help protect against possible infringement.

Sources
Bogdan. Logo Copyrights and Wrongs: 5 Interesting Recent Infringement Lawsuits. Top Design Magazine. 2011. www.topdesignmag.com.
Butler, Joy R. The Permission Seeker’s Guide Through The Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks, and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions. Sashay Communications. 1 March, 2007.
Knopper, Steve. ‘Blurred Lines’ Lawsuit: 5 Major Music Industry Implications. Rolling Stone. 12 March, 2015. www.rollingstone.comLi, Shirley. Disney Settles Frozen Copyright Lawsuit. Entertainment Weekly. 25 June, 2015. www.ew.com.