All Articles Tagged "copyright infringement"
Children of 70′s Singer Slap Kanye West With Copyright Infringement Suit Over 8-Year-Old Song, ‘Gold Digger’
Source: YouTube
Back in 2005, Kanye West released popular baller’s anthem, “Gold Digger,” which garnered a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year, sold over 3 million digital copies and even snatched the No.1 spot on the Billboard charts. Now fast forward to the year 2013. TMZ is reporting that Kanye West has recently been served with a copyright infringement suit, 8 years after the track’s release. By whom, you ask? Well, according to TMZ papers were filed by siblings Trena Steward and Lorenzo Pryor. Steward and Pryor and the children of David Pryor, who was a member of 70′s band Thunder & Lightening.
During David’s time with Thunder & Lightening, he penned a song called “Bumpin’ Bus Stop.” Both children own about 1/4 of the song, which is where West comes in. They are claiming that 13 seconds into his “Gold Digger” track, he pulls a tiny sample from their father’s song and if you listen closely, you can hear their Dad saying, “Get down” three times while Kanye is saying “Get down girl, gon’ head, get down.”
Steward and Pryor are requesting that a judge put a stop to the sale of “Gold Digger” in addition to seeking a hefty amount of money for damages.
You can check out a snippet from Pryor’s track below. Turn the page for the brief snippet from “Gold Digger” that Pryor’s kiddies are claiming features their Dad. Let us know if you hear the alleged sample.
Alicia Keys Slapped With Copyright Lawsuit Over “Girl On Fire”
Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Alicia Keys has been tearing up the charts with her new album “Girl On Fire” and the hit single of the same name. But there’s someone who says she needs to share the credit for the song, and the riches that have come with it.
Earl Shuman, a songwriter, says there’s a portion of the song that samples the song “Lonely Boy,” which reached number two on the Billboard charts in 1970 when it was recorded as “Hey There Lonely Girl.” He’s suing for copyright infringement, asking for damages and costs related to the alleged infringement and the court case. The Hollywood Reporter has a copy of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that a section of the song sounds a little too much like a part of the 1970 tune. The similarity was pointed out back in November by a site, Showbiz411, THR reports. The lawsuit lifts directly from the Showbiz411 story.
So you’ve no doubt heard “Girl On Fire” since it’s everywhere — from the radio to commercials to the Madame Noire office where I’ve gotten the karaoke version numerous times from a couple of my fellow editors. Below, here’s the older “Lonely Girl” song. What do you think?
Judge Rules for Warner But Sympathizes With Tyson Tattoo Artist
(New York Times) — A federal judge on Tuesday allowed the movie “Hangover Part II” to be released for the Memorial Day weekend, rejecting a request by a tattoo artist who says that the movie violates his copyright by using a face tattoo he made for Mike Tyson on a central character in the movie. But even as Judge Catherine D. Perry of Federal District Court in St. Louis gave an important victory to Warner Brothers Entertainment, the studio that is releasing “Hangover Part II,” she made clear that her sympathies were entirely on the side of the artist, S. Victor Whitmill. She said that Mr. Whitmill had a “strong likelihood of prevailing on the merits for copyright infringement” and that most of the arguments put forward by Warner Bros. were “just silly.” Mr. Whitmill made the Maori-inspired tattoo for Mr. Tyson in 2003 in Las Vegas. In testimony on the lawsuit, he described how he had spent four hours conferring with Mr. Tyson and then inking the tattoo face, steering him from a pattern he proposed with “hearts and diamonds around the eye area” to a creation inspired by tribal art.
Aggressive Answer to Online Copyright Infringement
(New York Times) — When Brian Hill, a 20-year-old blogger from North Carolina, posted on his Web site last December a photograph of an airport security officer conducting a pat-down, a legal battle was the last thing he imagined. A month later, Mr. Hill received an e-mail from a reporter for The Las Vegas Sun who was looking into a Nevada company that files copyright lawsuits for newspapers. The e-mail informed Mr. Hill that he was one of those that the company, Righthaven, was suing. Though the airport photo had gone viral before Mr. Hill plucked it off the Web, it belonged to The Denver Post, where it first appeared on Nov. 18. Mr. Hill took down the photo. He was too late. A summons was delivered to his house. The lawsuit sought statutory damages. It did not name a figure, but accused Mr. Hill of “willful” infringement, and under federal copyright law up to $150,000 can be awarded in such cases. “I was shocked,” Mr. Hill said. “I thought maybe it was a joke or something to scare me. I didn’t know the picture was copyrighted.”
Russell Simmons Takes Phat Farm Copycat to Court
(Eurweb) — Russell Simmons is on a mission right now to get the folks who defamed his clothing label, Phat Farm. Phat Farm is suing a Florida based T-shirt company Phag Farm for $7 million for infringement on the brand’s name.
Michael Baisden’s Copyright Lawsuit Headed to Court
(The Root) — Author and nationally syndicated broadcast personality Michael Baisden is headed to court over a copyright-infringement lawsuit. Documents filed in the lawsuit allege that I’m Ready Productions, Inc., Image Entertainment, Inc., ALW Entertainment, Inc., Je’Caryous Johnson and Gary Guidry conspired to tour a stage play without Baisden’s permission and sold DVDs based on Baisden’s best-selling novels, The Maintenance Man and Men Cry in the Dark, in violation of federal copyright laws. The lawsuit alleges that the men conspired to use Baisden’s image and likeness to promote the DVDs without Baisden’s consent.
