Beastie Boys v. Monster Energy Adam Yauch, a member of the Beastie Boys, sadly passed away in May 2012. Several days after Yauch’s will became public, the Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against Monster Energy Company for copyright and trademark infringement and violation of the New York Civil Rights law. The suit alleges that Monster used parts of the band’s songs, including “Sabotage,” “So Whatcha Want,” and “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” in promotional videos for Monster Energy Drinks. These videos were used to promote Ruckus in the Rockies, a Monster-sponsored snowboarding event. How did Monster allegedly violate…
Menu
Archives: Copyrights
Romney Ad Taken Down for Copyright Violation
July 16, 2012
U.S. News is reporting that a campaign video posted on Mitt Romney’s website has been taken down due to an alleged copyright violation. The ad contained clips of President Obama’s performance of the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together.” As you can see from that link, the President’s original performance is still available on YouTube (as of the publication of this post, at least). Apparently, BMG Rights Management (one would assume this is the copyright owner of the underlying musical composition) sent a takedown notice demanding that the video be pulled. The U.S. News story states that “The Romney campaign…
San Diego Comic-Con Panel Preview
July 10, 2012
San Diego Comic-Con Panel Preview For the 5th year in a row, I will have the opportunity to participate in a panel during the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con (or, if you insist, Comic-Con International). The panel will be moderated, as always, by Michael Lovitz, and the panelists will include David Branfman and Professor Marc Greenberg. Please join us on Saturday, July 14, 2012 from 10:30am to noon in Room 11AB.
Black Keys Sue Pizza Hut for Song Theft
June 28, 2012
Black Keys Sue Pizza Hut for Song Theft The Black Keys, a duo from the rock mecca of Akron, Ohio, have sued Pizza Hut for copyright infringement. The suit concerns this Pizza Hut commercial (warning: lousy audio), which allegedly contains portions of their single “Gold on the Ceiling.” Based on what I’ve been able to hear of the Pizza Hut commercial, it’s not entirely clear if the ‘Hut (people call it that, right?) uses the actual recording or if they just hired a band to make a reasonable facsimile of “Gold.” Either way, it’s probably not good news for Yum!…
