The legislature of New York’s Nassau County passed a law on Monday to ban women’s and girls’ sports teams from using sports facilities in the county on Long Island unless they exclude transgender girls and women from playing....more
The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more
In a move that underscores the escalating tension between the music industry and artificial intelligence (AI), many of the world’s largest music publishers have filed a joint lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic over song...more
The music industry has begun cracking down on brand owners’ and influencers’ unlicensed use of songs in social media posts through the filing of several lawsuits over the past few months. The lawsuits have largely targeted...more
The IP Law Blog has been tracking the progress of the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Taylor Swift by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the writers of “Playas Gon’ Play” by the girl group 3LW (released in 2001)...more
Judge Dolly M. Gee of the Central District of California recently awarded singer Lizzo a major victory in a copyright dispute concerning the artist’s hit song “Truth Hurts.” In her ruling, Judge Gee dismissed with prejudice a...more
In February of 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed copyright infringement claims against Taylor Swift brought by a pair of songwriters. The songwriters’ allegations were that...more
On September 2, 2020, a California federal judge denied musician Taylor Swift’s motion to dismiss copyright infringement claims related to the lyrics in Swift’s hit song Shake It Off. On remand from the Ninth Circuit, the...more
Sometimes the truth hurts – but what is the truth here? On October 23, Melissa Jefferson, professionally known as Lizzo, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Los Angeles seeking a declaratory judgment...more
As any football fan knows, Carrie Underwood has performed the introductory song for Sunday Night Football since 2013. “Waitin’ All Day For Sunday Night” was the introductory song for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and “Oh Sunday...more
Beer and music go together – always have and always will. Lots of brewers draw inspiration from song and many have used lyrics or even titles to name beers or even their breweries. For example, the superlative Singlecut...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s judgment after a jury trial, ruling that the song “Blurred Lines” infringed Marvin Gaye’s 1970s song “Got To Give It Up.”...more
“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play, And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake Shake it off / Shake it off...more
Pop artist Taylor Swift shook off a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler in the U.S. District for the Central District of California, Sean Hall d.b.a. Gimme Some Hot Sauce Music, et al. v....more
On September 18, 2017, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Hall and Butler are the co-authors of the 2000...more
English pop musician Ed Sheeran once again finds himself in the crosshairs of a high-profile copyright infringement lawsuit, this time in the Southern District of New York over alleged similarities between his smash hit...more
Addressing whether nearly identical opening song lyrics showed copying and whether to give more weight to testimony from witnesses who contradicted themselves, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that...more
Taylor Swift has been in the news a lot over the last year or so. She is phenomenally successful. Her hit album “1989” concert tour was the highest grossing tour in the world in 2015 (over $250 million) and the highest...more
If you have ever been to a Chili’s restaurant, odds are you have heard this birthday jingle. Perhaps you have also heard different birthday greetings at other chain restaurants. More likely than not, you have not heard any...more