Legal liabilities are prevalent in the business of entertainment. In this blog I will attempt to analyze three different issues in the entertainment business. Earlier this year Kanye West Law suit with Tuf American label. The record label accused Kanye not going though the proper channels to sample parts of Pianist Eddie Bo work in his own song “Who survive in America”. The copyright infringement case was filed in a Federal court in Manhattan, New york.
“This, of course, isn’t the first time West has been hit with copyright claims after the use of a sample. In summer 2011, Numero Uno Group cited Jay-Z and Kanye for use of parts of the Syl Johnson track “Different Strokes” in Watch The Throne offering “The Joy” http://idolator.com/6961241/kanye-west-twisted-fantasy-lawsuit.
This lawsuit is evidence that copyright infringement is a serious charge. Many entertainers think that if they pay a license fee, that will protect them to use the exclusively. Proper agreements must be obtained to sample other artist’s work.
Which brings to my attention the second case of copyright infringement. Eminem's filed a lawsuit on Audi, the car company used his song in one of their ads. Eminem’s song was a Grammy winning song called “Lose yourself”. The car company used it without getting the proper rights, although the commercial only aired in Europe.
It has been reported that “The suit is going forward in a regional court in Germany, where Chrysler has issued a cease and desist order” http://www.bet.com/news/music/2011/06/03/-eminem-sues-audi-for-copyright-infringement.html. This is further evidence to my stated claim that copyright infringement is a very serious charge.
In addition to the first two cases, Mike Tyson had a hand in an art copyright infringement case, were his tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill sued Warner Bros. using the tattoo in the “Hangover 2 move. Whitmill claim he is the rightful owner of that design and wanted compensation for the recreation of the work. “ The "Hangover" tattoo copyright dispute has been settled out of federal court, with the studio and tattoo artist both saving a little face regarding the Mike Tyson-inspired ink that's plastered on the face of the character played by Ed Helms in "The Hangover Part 2"
These three cases have shown me that copyright infringement is not worth the legal trouble. It is my intention to open a performer consultant company that will assist entertainers with legal liability issues. I am not an attorney and not able to give legal advice but I will be able to refer them in the right direction to make their jobs less stressful in this regard.
Work Cited:
Kanye West Sued Over ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ Samples
September 30, 2012 Christina Lee,
http://idolator.com/6961241/kanye-west-twisted-fantasy-lawsuit
Eminem Sues Audi For Copyright Infringement
Slim Shady goes after carmaker for using his music without permission
By Reggie Ugwu
Posted: 06/03/2011 06:11 PM EDT
Filed Under Eminem
Hangover 2' tattoo lawsuit over Mike Tyson-style ink is settled
June 22, 2011 | 4:38 pm:
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