Copyright Infringement Lawsuits: Why Some Win and Some Lose, and What’s Next

Cosponsored by the Law Firm of King & Ballow and the Los Angeles Chapter of the Copyright Society of the USA

There have been several high profile music copyright infringement decisions recently that have the public and industry buzzing. Unfortunately, the media and others discussing the cases oftentimes get the facts underlying those decisions wrong. This leaves the public, and even songwriters and others in the industry, with the wrong impression about the facts, the law, and the evidence on which decisions are based.

Join us as Richard S. Busch, the lead litigator in the “Blurred Lines” case among other noteworthy cases, discusses the facts of the “Blurred Lines” case, as well as important evidentiary rulings made in that case, and the evidence that supported the jury verdict in favor of the Gaye family, which was then confirmed by the District Judge.  In addition, musicologist Judith Finell will be presenting, detailing some of the key facts from the Blurred Lines case. Mr. Busch will also be discussing the important issues on appeal in “Blurred Lines,” as well as his take on other recent cases, including the recently decided “Led Zeppelin” case, and his view on the important issues that will be litigated in future copyright infringement lawsuits.

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SPEAKERS

Richard Busch is a partner at King & Ballow and
is the Head of the Firm’s Entertainment and Intellectual Property
practice group.  His practice areas include litigation (state and
federal), entertainment litigation, intellectual property litigation,
and commercial litigation.  Mr. Busch has successfully represented music
clients in numerous notable trial and appellate court cases, including
Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films (6th Cir. 2005) (no de minimis
defense in a copyright infringement action to sampling of a sound
recording); Williams v. Bridgeport Music, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2015)
(“Blurred Lines”/”Got to Give It Up” copyright infringement); and VMG
Salsoul, LLC v. Ciccone (9th Cir. 2016) (de minimis defense available in
a copyright infringement action to sampling of a sound recording).

Judith Finell is a musicologist and the president of
Judith Finell MusicServices Inc., a music consulting firm in New York
founded in 1985. Since then, she has served as consultant and expert
witness involving music copyright infringement. She has testified in
many notable copyright infringement trials over the past 20 years. Most
recently, she testified as the expert witness for the winning Marvin
Gaye estate in their copyright infringement dispute regarding the song
“Blurred Lines,” opposing Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke. Judith
Finell regularly advises HBO, Grey Advertising, Ogilvy & Mather,
Warner, Disney, and Sony Pictures on musical works for their
commercials, films, and television series. Ms. Finell frequently advises
attorneys, advertising agencies, entertainment and recording companies,
publishing firms, and musicians, addressing copyright issues, including
those arising from digital sampling, electronic technology and Internet
musical usage.

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