Copyright in music

Ownership of the copyright of an artistic work grants the exclusive right to do with the work, or a substantial part of it, actions that include: copying, publishing, broadcasting, public performance, renting, preparing a work derived from the original work, granting rights of use, and more.

Musical creation and song copyright protection

Copyright law provides protection to the creators of musical works, but does not define what is considered a musical work. In addition, the musical “vocabulary”, from which the works are built, is relatively limited. Therefore, many times debates, conflicts and divisions arise between musicians on the question of where the line is drawn between a new development of an existing musical idea that is considered borrowing, inspiration or even homage – which is very common in the industry, and copying essential characteristics of a work, which violates copyright. As we will see later, the answer is not always so clear-cut, therefore, in cases of maintaining or infringing copyright on a song, it is recommended to use copyright lawyers, who have specific experience in protecting musical works.

Copyright on plays and dramatic works

The copyrights for dramatic works include, among others, copyrights for plays, cinematic works, dance works, pantomime, and more. Since copyright does not apply to the working methods themselves, the question arises as to whether it is possible to protect the copyright of the way of directing and the acting style of the actors, and the answer to this question is given on a case-by-case basis.

Copyright on a song – famous infringement cases from recent years

In one of the famous cases of copyright infringement on a song from recent years, a dispute arose between the creators of the song Toy, the Eurovision winner in 2018, and the creators of the song “Seven Nation Army” by the band “White Stripes” who claimed that sequences of notes and rhythms were copied from it. The dispute ended in a compromise in which c K Witt, one of the creators of the original song, was added to the list of creators receiving rewards from the song “Toy”.

The successful band Coldplay was also sued for copyright infringement on a song, by the guitarist Joe Satriani who claimed that parts of his song If I could fly were copied into the theme song of the band’s album Viva la Vida. The dispute was settled in a settlement outside the walls of the court.

Whereas against the Led Zeppelin band, the creator of the hit – Stairway to Heaven, it is claimed that the song was copied from a song by the Taurus band, for which Led Zeppelin served as a warm-up band at the beginning of its career. After the court ruled in favor of Led Zeppelin, a process of mutual appeals began that lasted 44 years (!) and at the end of it the court finally ruled in favor of Led Zeppelin.

A precedent case that raised many questions in the music industry involved copyright infringement of a song called Joyful Noise by a rapper called Flame by Katy Perry. The reason for the dispute was a 6-note ostinto (motif) that repeated throughout the song, when the defendant claimed that the ostinto cannot be protected by copyright since it is part of the thousand musical stanzas that any creator may use.

The court ruled that the copyright was violated and stopped compensation payments in the amount of 2.8 million dollars, but Katy Perry appealed the decision and her appeal was accepted.

Another complex case of copyright infringement on a song raised the question of whether it is possible to infringe copyright on a song only due to the emotional component of the work. As part of the case, rapper Pharrell Williams was sued for the fact that his song Blurred Line reminded in spirit of Marvin Gaye’s song and even mentioned it. Although until this case, the prevailing opinion among musicians was that as long as there was no copying of the lyrics or the melody this did not constitute copyright infringement, the case ended with an order to pay royalties amounting to millions of dollars to the heirs of the singer Marvin Gaye.

Copyright violations on a play – famous cases from Israel

The children’s show “Oz Li Gotz Li” was staged in the “Hakamir” theater after the original play was staged previously, in another theater. The director of the original show claimed that the copyright for the direction belonged to him. The court rejected the claim of the plaintiff and stated that in order not to limit the creative freedom of other creators, the copyright of the directing work expires when the show leaves the stage.

In another case that dealt with copyright infringement on a play, it was claimed that the play “Stage Germ” staged in Israel was copied from the American play “Chorus Row”. After the court examined the degree of similarity between the works and the “spirit” of the works, it was determined that the copyright on the play “Chorus Row” was indeed violated, and following this determination, the Israeli play was taken off the stage.

In another case where copyright infringement on a play was discussed, a young playwright named Ron Guetta sued veteran playwright Hilal Mittelpunkt for copyright infringement of an original play he wrote called “Edmonton”, which Mittelpunkt watched as a judge at a festival of original plays in which Guetta participated. According to Guetta, Mittelpunkt copied from his play essential parts for a new play he created called “Maxi and I”. After inviting expert testimony, the court ruled that the similar elements between the plays, including the central theme and the specific presentation technique, do not constitute an original work by Guetta, and therefore his claim for copyright infringement on a play was rejected and he was even ordered to pay Hillel Mittelpunkt damages for damage to his reputation .

Due to the complexity of the issue of copyright in music and art in general, in any case of copyright infringement it is recommended to consult an intellectual property attorney specializing in the field of copyright.

As a leading firm of lawyers and patent attorneys in the field of intellectual property, our firm has over 30 years of experience in representing over 8,000 clients and great expertise in protecting copyrights on works, especially musical and dramatic works. The office has a professional team of intellectual property lawyers who provide legal advice to creators both in the registration of rights, and in drafting commercial distribution and usage agreements. We also represent clients in copyright infringement claims in all creative fields, including copyright infringement on a song, copyright infringement on a play, and more.

For any questions regarding copyrights on works of art and musical works, contact us.

*The aforementioned in this article and on the website in general should not be considered as legal advice and the things written in it should not be considered as a substitute for individual legal advice, but a personal opinion and/or a general explanation only. Of course, you should not rely on and/or act in accordance with the above without individual legal advice from an attorney

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