Another Content Ownership Controversy for TikTok, Copyright Office: No License Required for Use of Songs in Marriages, Musician Sues \u201cBaby Shark\u201d Producers for Copyright Infringement, Producer Sues Drake for Copyright Infringement of Beats, RIAA Refuses to Share \u201cSix-Strikes\u201d Results with Cox, Eminem\u2019s Publisher Sues Spotify for Copyright Infringement, and more.<\/p>\n
Another Content Ownership Controversy for TikTok<\/strong> In its takedown notices, TikTok had claimed that it had exclusive contracts with certain content creators, which gave it the right to exclude other platforms from featuring content created by these users. However, ShareChat claims that this contradicts TikTok\u2019s claim of being an intermediary under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.<\/p>\n Section 79 of the (IT) Act, 2000 and the corresponding 2011 Rules prevent intermediaries from initiating any transmission, selecting receivers and selecting or modifying the information contained in the transmission.\u00a0 In its letter, ShareChat has questioned TikTok\u2019s claims, citing the government\u2019s position against similar exclusive contracts in online retail and service platforms.\u00a0 TikTok has been involved in a public interest litigation earlier this year, which had sought to ban the app due to its inappropriate content.<\/p>\n Copyright Office: No License Required for Use of Songs in Marriages<\/strong> The Copyright Office has cited the fair use provisions in Section 52 (za), which specifically makes an exception for religious ceremonies, including those related to marriage. Musician Sues \u201cBaby Shark\u201d Producers for Copyright Infringement <\/strong> Only claims that the length, the key, the tempo, the rhythm, the instrumentation, the harmony and styles of Pingfong\u2019s version are similar to his, and both versions use a splash at the beginning. Pinkfong claims that its version is also based on the song in the public domain, and denies any infringement. Only published a YouTube video of his song in 2011, and has about 100,000 views. The widely popular Pingfong version has been viewed over 3.3 billion times on YouTube, and is the only one targeted at kids in the Top 10 most-viewed videos.<\/p>\n Producer Sues Drake for Copyright Infringement of Beats <\/strong> Nicholas learned of the use of his beat when he watched an interview of producer Adam Pigott who admitted to using a beat that he called \u201cThat Beat\u201d when creating the Drake songs. Nicholas says \u201cThat Beat\u201d is not an interpretation or new performance of the beat in \u201cRoll Call\u201d, but instead has been directly copied in Drake\u2019s songs. He claims that neither Drake nor Pigott asked him for permission to use the bat, nor did they provide any compensation for its use.<\/p>\n Nicholas is seeking an injunction on the two songs and an invalidation of Drake\u2019s copyrights in the songs. He is also requesting to receive all profits from the songs and additional damages for the infringement.<\/p>\n RIAA Refuses to Share \u201cSix-Strikes\u201d Results with Cox <\/strong> The\u00a0lawsuit, which involves up to USD 1.5 billion in damages, is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Cox has shown an interest in the Copyright Alert System (CAS), requesting documents to compare the effectiveness of the CAS with its own measures.<\/p>\n Eminem\u2019s Publisher Sues Spotify for Copyright Infringement<\/strong> The suit alleges two unlawful actions by Spotify: first, willful ignorance of Eight Mile Style\u2019s ownership of Eminem\u2019s catalogue when deciding how to pay out streaming revenue for his playback metrics, and second, violation of sections of the\u00a0Music Modernization Act (MMA). Eminem himself is not a party to the lawsuit, as Eight Mile Style is owned by Mark and Jeff Bass, who own the rights to the majority of Eminem\u2019s early works and also co-wrote a number of his hit singles.<\/p>\n Eight Mile Style is seeking actual damages that could amount to billions of dollars, and per-song statutory damages for 243 works. Spotify, which\u00a0went public last year, is now valued at $26 billion, and could face penalties besides damages for infringement if found to have violated the MMA.<\/p>\n Authored and compiled by Ashwini Arun and Snehaja Rana (Associates, BananaIP Counsels)<\/strong>
\nOnline video-sharing platform TikTok has found itself in the middle of a content ownership controversy yet again. TikTok had sent takedown notices to social networking platform ShareChat, asking ShareChat to remove content in which TikTok claimed copyright ownership. \u00a0However, ShareChat has sent \u00a0\u00a0a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), in which it has pointed out the inconsistency of TikTok\u2019s claims of being a content owner as well as an intermediary.<\/p>\n
\nThe Copyright Office has issued a public notice clarifying that the utilization of any sound recording in the course of religious ceremony including a marriage procession and other social festivities associated with a marriage does not require a license from the copyright owners. The notice was issued in response to representations from various stakeholders seeking a clarification on the issue.<\/p>\n
\nThe notice may be viewed here: http:\/\/copyright.gov.in\/Latest_Notice37.aspx<\/p>\nInternational News<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThe popular children\u2019s song \u201cBaby Shark\u201d created by South Korean brand Pinkfong, is now the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit.\u00a0 Johnny Only, a musician who has allegedly been performing the song for 20 years, is suing Pinkfong\u2019s parent SmartStudy in a South Korean court, claiming that Pinkfong copied many elements of his unique version of the song. However, he has admitted that \u201cBaby Shark\u201d predates him, making the original version a public domain work. Only claims that he rewrote the original chorus to focus on the sharks, and make it a children\u2019s song, and thus owns a copyright in his version.<\/p>\n
\nMusic producer Samuel Nicholas III, aka Sam Scully, has filed a suit against rapper Drake, accusing him of copyright infringement. Nicholas claims that Drake sampled beats from his song, \u201cRoll Call\u201d made in 2000, and used these beats in two songs \u201cNice For What\u201d and \u201cIn My Feelings\u201d both of which were released in 2018.<\/p>\n
\nThe Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has refused to share information about the effectiveness of the “Six Strikes” Copyright Alert System with Cox Communications. The data was subpoenaed as part of an ongoing piracy liability lawsuit to show that the company\u2019s own anti-piracy measures worked better than the alternative suggested by the music industry.
\nSeveral large internet service providers (ISPs)in the US sent copyright infringement warnings to customers engaging in piracy. After repeated alerts, these subscribers faced a variety of \u2018mitigation\u2019 measures, but their accounts were not terminated. Numerous RIAA labels resorted to filing lawsuits against the ISPs for not doing enough to curb piracy, specifically for failing to disconnect repeat infringers.<\/p>\n
\nEight Mile Style, the music publisher of American rap artist Eminem, has filed a lawsuit against music streaming service Spotify in a US court, alleging that Spotify knowingly streamed Eminem tracks without proper licenses and wants Spotify to compensate the publisher for billions of streams.<\/p>\n
\nAmong the central disputes is Spotify\u2019s incorrect labelling of the song \u201cLose Yourself\u201d as \u201cCopyright Control\u201d, which implies that rights-holders in the song are unknown. Eight Mile claims that Spotify also did not go through the proper process to obtain a license for \u201cLose Yourself\u201d or determine who owned the licenses. \u201cLose Yourself\u201d won an Oscar for Best Original Song, and featured in the film \u201cEight Mile Style\u201d, starring Eminem.<\/p>\n
\nThe Entertainment Law News Bulletin is brought to you jointly by the Entertainment Law and Consulting\/Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to contact@bananaip.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0with the subject: Ent Law News.<\/p>\n