Comments on: How Chuck Berry Became a Beach Boy (and other copyright infringement cases)

By: Duke E

Duke E — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 23:45:46 +0000

There is a current situation involving Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” — which sounds extremely close to Alan Parsons’ 1982 hit “Eye In the Sky”. There’s even a mashup on YouTube — it’s a lot closer than the Ronettes and George Harrison.

By: 'Da guy

'Da guy — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:37:41 +0000

Mike D – I think the point being that if we didn’t have lawyers we wouldn’t NEED lawyers.

By: Bert

Bert — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:54:18 +0000

The Chuck Berry story reminds me of the legal issues between Led Zeppelin and Willie Dixon over “Whole Lotta Love”, which borrows sections and lyrics from Dixon’s “You Need Love”. He is now listed as co-writer.

And of the time that a record company (Fantasy, i think) tried to sue John Fogerty over “The Old Man Down the Road” because it sounded too close to a song in their catalogue. The other song was CCR’s “Run Through the Jungle”, written by JOHN FOGERTY.

By: Michael D

Michael D — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:28:12 +0000

June, I hope you never find yourself in the enviable situation of having to navigate the complex legal system on your own. From your comment, I assume you would not hire a lawyer if you were sued. I assume you wouldn’t hire a lawyer if you were assaulted and injured, or wrongly dismissed from your job either.

I am a lawyer and I am certainly not an idiot. In your case I am less sure.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:12:41 +0000

This is a trademark issue, not copyright, but the Girl Scout thing reminded me – don’t forget Johnson & Johnson’s recent ill-conceived lawsuit against the American Red Cross concerning … the red cross. Johnson & Johnson has actually held the trademark to the red cross logo for years and has had a sort of gentleman’s agreement with the Red Cross allowing them to use it, since they’re a nonprofit, but J&J drew the line at the Red Cross licensing it for use on first aid kits and things like that that weren’t benefiting the nonprofit directly. Theoretically, J&J’s reasoning is not all that unsound, but the PR disaster that’s resulted from suing a charity has not been good for the company’s image.

By: Larson

Larson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:53:21 +0000

Phuck Lawyers!

By: June Yer

June Yer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:51:03 +0000

Be sure to thank a greedy, dirt bag lawyer for this stupidity. Paying a royalty for singing campfire songs? What next? Sue Mother Nature on behalf of water utilities for taking away their lawn watering business??

Lawyers are idiots and serve no purpose.

By: WarTiger

WarTiger — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:48:13 +0000

Dont forget about George Harrison’s mishap over “my sweet lord” sounding curiously like “he’s so fine” apparently he wouldnt listen to the radio after he was found guilty of incidental infringement.

By: Patrick B

Patrick B — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:04:11 +0000

There is another music Copywrite company worth note. CCLI handles licensing for all those lovely songs we sing in churches. not the Hymns but if you have ever sang a chorus you probably owe them money unless you have a CCLI licence. I handle the license for my church so every couple of years I get to take part in a report cycle. That means for 3 months I have to keep track of every song we sing, how many times we sing it, and how many copies of music and lyrics are printed, are overheads used, was the service recorded and was any part of the song changed in any way. Oh and every time we print something we have to place our account number on it to make it legal.

Think about this the next time you sing This Little Light of Mine. GRIN

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:58:47 +0000

Saying a group of people can’t sing a copyrighted song in public without paying a fee, like around a campfire, or singalong at a party, is like Golden Press sueing a church or family reunion for serving a meal using one of their copyrighted recipes from Betty Crocker’s cookbook. It’s just silly.