KC Sunshine Band Member Seeks to Terminate Copyright
On October 8, 2021, Richard Finch (“Finch”), guitarist of the 70’s group, “KC and the Sunshine Band,” (most notable known for their hit songs: “That’s The Way (I Like It),” “(Shake, Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty,” and “Boogie Shoes”) brought suit against Sony’s EMI Longitude Music in the United States District Court for the Central…
Read MoreOn October 5, 2021, Brandon Cooper, and his producer, Timothy Valentine, filed a copyright infringement suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Drake, Chris Brown, and seven other songwriters credited on Drake and Brown’s track “No Guidance.” “No Guidance” is an R&B Grammy-nominated song that landed at number…
Read MoreOn September 27, 2021, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York found that Charlotte Hornets basketball player Terry Rozier’s use of a ghost mask was fair use. Fair use is the right to use a copyrighted work under certain conditions without the permission of the copyright owner. Fun World produces…
Read MoreOn August 16th, 2021, a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of a special effects company, and against Disney, on a motion for summary judgement in a copyright infringement dispute. Disney used the special effects company’s technology to animate characters for blockbuster films including Beauty…
Read MoreContinuously at the center of multiple copyright infringement lawsuits, Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer, Abel Tesfaye, professionally known as “the Weeknd,” has been the subject of a slew of copyright infringement lawsuits since 2015. Central to these lawsuits are allegations that the Weeknd has illegally copied substantial elements from various music created by others…
Read MoreOn September 15, 2021, model and former “Bachelor” contestant Hannah Ann Sluss (“Sluss”) sued Procter & Gamble Company, Inc. (“P&G”) for copyright infringement, claiming that P&G is still using her image to sell products, even though its license to do so has long since expired. According to Sluss’s complaint, she licensed one of her modeling…
Read MoreOn September 24, 2021, Marvel initiated five separate lawsuits in California and New York Federal District Courts against writer Larry Lieber and four other artists (or their heirs) of Marvel Comics (collectively, the “Writers”). The lawsuits were in response to efforts by the Writers to initiate “termination” of their assignments of creative works to Marvel.…
Read MoreOn July 7th, 2021, in a unanimous, unpublished decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s finding that entrepreneur Damon “Dame” Dash (“Dash”) was guilty of copyright infringement. The ruling held that Dash infringed upon the copyright of an upstart author/filmmaker named Edwyna Brooks (“Brooks”) movie “Mafietta” when Dash placed it for…
Read MoreOn May 6th, 2021, Miami rapper Kid Wes filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York alleging that rapper Childish Gambino stole the chorus from the Miami rapper’s 2016 track “Made In America” for his 2018 hit “This Is America.” In the complaint, Wes alleges that the chorus of the 2018 hit song…
Read MoreOn April 27th, 2021, the Grammy-winning pop singer Lizzo claims about the copyright owner of the hit song “Truth Hurts” once and for all. Three unknown music artists accused Lizzo of refusing to acknowledge their role in creating her song “Truth Hurts.” Among other things, the artists Justin Raisen, Jeremiah Raisen, and Yves Rothman (the…
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