Marvel Sued for X-Men Theme Song; Warner Gets Trump Tweet Removed; Telegram Under Fire from RIAA for Infringement; Jennifer Lopez Sued for Infringing Photograph; NY Court Dismisses Infringement Suit against \u2018Billions\u2019; Lil Peep\u2019s Mother Files a Suit for Wrongful Death; Multiple Rappers Named in \u2018Rodeo\u2019 Infringement Suit; Rafale: The Jet and Pan Masala; RSS wants Online Platforms to Regulate Anti-Hindu Content and more.<\/p>\n
Marvel Sued for X-Men Theme Song<\/strong> He claims that a huge part of the success of the X-Men series can be attributed to the popularity of its theme song, which has now gained iconic status, and includes the multibillion-dollar film franchise as well. Since the X-Men series streams on Amazon Prime Video and is available at Apple\u2019s iTunes Store, these companies have also been added as defendants to the suit. Krisko is seeking statutory damages for each instance or infringement or actual profits from the X-Men franchise, along with an injunction to prevent further reproduction and distribution of the theme song.<\/p>\n Warner Gets Trump Tweet Removed<\/strong> Warner Music Group, which owns the copyright in the song \u2018Photograph\u2019, sent a DMCA complaint to Twitter, which resulted in the prompt removal of the video. Since US Copyright law criminalizes the unauthorised use and distribution of copyrighted work online, and Twitter functions as an online service provider, non-compliance of such DMCA notices could threaten Twitter\u2019s intermediary status.<\/p>\n Telegram Under Fire from RIAA for Infringement<\/strong> The complaint notes that, although Telegram appears to have forwarded the DMCA notices to the various channel operators, very few of these channel operators have deleted the audio\/video files in question. Jennifer Lopez Sued for Infringing Photograph<\/strong> The Agency also claims that Lopez\u2019 celebrity status enhances the appeal of the image, thus adding to the creativity, distinctiveness and value of the photograph. Due to this, both Splash and the photographer stood to gain revenue from licensing the photograph and such unauthorized use of the photograph by the singer, harms the existing and future market for the original photograph.<\/p>\n NY Court Dismisses Infringement Suit against \u2018Billions\u2019<\/strong> The court found that the book and the show did not resemble each other, as the book was a fictionalized retelling of Shull\u2019s experiences in the form of an in-house female performance coach for a hedge fund. The court also held that, even though Shull is well known in the performance coaching world, she cannot copyright the idea of a female in-house performance coach. Since the characters of Denise and Wendy did not resemble each other even in the slightest, there did not seem to be any relevant grounds for a copyright infringement suit.<\/p>\n Lil Peep\u2019s Mother Files a Suit for Wrongful Death<\/strong> She also claims that his managers provided him with various kinds of drugs and enabled his drug use, to the point where he was forced to perform on stage on various occasions under the influence of enough drugs to impair his communication. Until November of last year Womack and\u00a0First Access worked side-by-side and\u00a0released his first posthumous project\u00a0Come Over When You’re Sober 2 which <\/em>debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Multiple Rappers Named in \u2018Rodeo\u2019 Infringement Suit<\/strong> Shortly after \u2018Broad Day\u2019 was released, Lil Nas X released \u2018Rodeo\u2019. As per the allegations in the lawsuit both the songs have similar chord progression, instruments and drumbeats.\u00a0 The producers claim that they did not give Lil Nas X and his collaborators permission to use or copy their work and that the rappers created an unauthorized copy and\/or derivative work from Plaintiffs\u2019 original material.<\/p>\n Rafale: The Jet and Pan Masala<\/strong> RSS wants Online Platforms to Regulate Anti-Hindu Content<\/strong> An RSS office-bearer stated that they want to restrict content that is \u2018critical\u2019 of the Indian standpoint on Kashmir or defamatory to Hindu symbols and the Indian Army, and for this purpose they were in touch with many online curated content providers (OCCPs). During one such meeting with the representative of Netflix, RSS discussed the protests in New Delhi with respect to the show \u2018Leila\u2019 and the subsequent Twitter case when the issue of blocking rightwing handles was raised by Anurag Thakur in a parliamentary committee and officials summoned. RSS therefore suggested that more Indians should be involved while creating content for India.<\/p>\n To deal with this issue, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has begun to look at alternative ways that do not infringe on the freedom of video on demand (VoD) providers, which will include a mechanism of having a dedicated body with a helpline to address complaints, to reduce the burden on the courts.<\/p>\n Authored and compiled by Neharika Vhatkar and Ashwini Arun (Associates, BananaIP Counsels)<\/strong>
\nA copyright infringement lawsuit against Marvel, Disney, Amazon, Apple\u00a0and others, has been filed in a New York Court.\u00a0 Zoltan Krisko filed the suit claiming that the theme song of the animated version for \u201cX-Men\u201d, was copied from the 1980\u2019s Hungarian TV series \u2018Linda\u2019. Krisko claims to represent Gyorgy Vukan, the late composer of the theme song from\u00a0\u2018Linda\u2019. <\/em>In his suit, he claims that, \u201cLinda\u201d was a household name in Hungary, which the entire country could \u201cidentify through its iconic soundtrack.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTwitter has recently removed a doctored version of the music video for the song \u2018Photograph\u2019 by the band Nickelback, in compliance with a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request. The altered video clip was uploaded by US President Donald Trump in a tweet mocking 2020 presidential candidate and former vice-president Joe Biden. The video contained a picture of Biden and his son allegedly spending time with Ukrainian businessmen. The post was made amid Trump\u2019s impeachment inquiry and the ongoing investigation by Congress, into the now leaked and public telephone conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian President.<\/p>\n
\nThe Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed a copyright infringement complaint with the US Government against encrypted messaging platform Telegram. The RIAA is a trade organisation that represents several companies in the music industry, including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment among others. The RIAA in its complaint has mentioned that, although it does not believe that Telegram is directly liable for copyright infringement, the platform\u2019s lax enforcement enables its users to illegally host and transmit copyrighted material.\u00a0The RIAA has also stated that it sent DMCA notices to Telegram for over 18,000 instances of unauthorised use of copyrighted recordings being used on the app.<\/p>\n
\nThe RIAA claims that record sales of its members account for about 85 percent of\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>recorded music sales in the United States. While it is likely that RIAA will take this matter forward by filing a civil suit, the US Government could also launch an investigation of its own.
\nTelegram has not commented on or responded to the complaint.<\/p>\n
\nSinger Jennifer Lopez is the latest celebrity to be hit with a USD 150,000 copyright infringement lawsuit, by the Splash News and Picture Agency, over a photo of herself and fianc\u00e9 Alex Rodriguez that was allegedly posted to her Instagram account two years ago. The Agency filed this suit in a California court, claiming that it never gave Lopez the license to use that photograph. Despite the absence of any license, it appears that a member of Lopez\u2019s team copied and distributed the image through the singer\u2019s Instagram account.<\/p>\n
\nA New York court has dismissed a copyright infringement suit filed by author and Wall Street performance coach Denise Shull against the Showtime network for its show \u201cBillions\u201d. Shull had filed the suit last December, claiming that the character Wendy Rhoades in the show was based on her, and that the story of the show infringed on her 2012 book \u201cMarket Mind Games\u201d. Shull also claimed that Andrew Ross Sorkin one of the creators of \u201cBillions\u201d had asked for inputs while developing the Rhoades character.<\/p>\n
\nRapper Lil Peep\u2019s mother, Lisa Womack, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his former management agency, First Access Entertainment claiming that the agency is responsible for his death. Lil\u2019 Peep, who was born Gustav Ahr, died from a\u00a0Xanax and fentanyl\u00a0overdose\u00a0while on tour in November 2017.<\/p>\n
\nIn response to the lawsuit, First Access has stated that Womack\u2019s claims are completely meritless, since police found Lil Peep\u2019s death to be an accident.<\/p>\n
\nSeveral rappers including Lil Nas X, Cardi B, and their collaborators have been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit for the song \u2018Rodeo\u2019.\u00a0 Don Lee and Glen Keith DeMeritt III, two producers from Atlanta have claimed in their lawsuit that the song \u2018Rodeo\u2019 is substantially similar to their song \u201cgwenXdonlee4-142,\u201d which they produced in 2017. The song gwenXdonlee was initially incorporated into the song \u2018Broad Day\u2019 by PuertoReefa and Sakrite Duexe, which was then distributed widely throughout the Atlanta hip-hop scene.<\/p>\nNational News<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nA company based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, has recently launched a pan masala by the name of Rafale, not to be confused with the Rafale fighter jet, which will soon make its way to India. The Lucknow company manufacturing the pan masala has recently put out an advertisement for the product featuring fighter jets. Once the advertisement was out, it created quite a buzz on social media, with a lot people trolling the advertisement for trying to take advantage of recent news about the Rafale fighter jet, which was officially handed over to India by France.
\nIrrespective of the future legal implications for the pan masala brand for using the name Rafale, it has for the time being managed to generate the initial interest in the product through its marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
\nRepresentatives of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) have expressed concern over the content being shown on several streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, among others, claiming that some of this content harbours anti-hindu and anti-national sentiments among viewers. In order to regulate such content, RSS members have been holding meetings with the representatives of such platforms to urge them to show content that \u201crepresents real Indian culture and ethos.\u201d As of now, RSS members, have held six such meetings with the representatives in the last four months in New Delhi and Mumbai.<\/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\u00a0contact@bananaip.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0with the subject: Ent Law News.<\/p>\n