T-Series issues Legal Notices to Video Platforms, Ford Motors denies Freeplay Music\u2019s infringement claims and Court denies Taylor Swift\u2019s motion to dismiss Infringement Lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The music record label T-Series has recently issued legal notices to several social video platform including Bolo Indya, Mitron, MX Player’s Takatak, Triller for allegedly using and infringing copyrighted work owned by T-Series. Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited, which is T-Series\u2019 parent company, has asked each of these short-video platforms to pay around INR 3.5 crore in damage and render accounts of all revenues illegally earned by the platforms from the copyrighted content.<\/p>\n
Additionally, T-Series has served a notice to the Chinese app Snack Video which is operational in India and has also filed a lawsuit against short-video app Roposo.<\/p>\n
The ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit between Ford and Freeplay Music, has now resulted in Ford countersuing Freeplay, after denying the Freeplay\u2019s infringement claims. Freeplay Music, which is a music library, had previously filed an infringement suit against Ford in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In the lawsuit, Freeplay Music claimed that Ford had used 54 songs from its music catalog 74 times in advertisements without paying for them and wanted the court to order Ford to pay for the infringements to the tune of USD 8.1 million. In response to the lawsuit Ford denied all of these allegations.<\/p>\n
Ford stated that, these allegations were baseless, since the advertisements that Freeplay Music had mentioned in their lawsuit, were video advertisements posted by third-party affiliates on YouTube in foreign jurisdictions directed to foreign audiences and were not produces by Ford. Further, Ford clarified that the \u201cU.S. Copyright Act does not apply to such extraterritorial conduct and, independently, liability under the U.S. Copyright Act cannot be based on corporate affiliation alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford is now countersuing Freeplay Music, for false advertising and is also claiming unspecified damages, court costs and attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n
Nathan Butler and Sean Hall and previously filed a copyright infringement suit against singer Taylor Swift, claiming that her song \u201cShake it Off\u201d, infringed upon the lyrics of their own song, \u201cPlayas Gon\u2019 Play\u201d. The disputed lyrics as Butler and Hall claim to have originally written are, \u201cPlayas, they gonna play And haters, they gonna hate\u201d, and a modified version of this with some additions has been used by Taylor Swift in her song.<\/p>\n
Following this Taylor Swift filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was granted to the singer, by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. However, this dismissal was recently reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit was of the opinion that the lawsuit filed by Butler and Hall, \u201cplausibly alleged originality\u201d, due to which the lawsuit cannot be dismissed as a matter of law.<\/p>\n
Authored and compiled by\u00a0 Neharika Vhatkar (Associate, BananaIP Counsels)\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe Copyright 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:\u00a0 Copyright Law News<\/p>\n