Did Carrie Underwood willfully copy another song? According to Nebraska singer/songwriter Heidi Merrill, yes. Yes, she did. Filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Merrill claims Underwood and her team wrote th…
Category archives: Copyright
Google Responds to Accusations of Plagiarizing Lyrics — And Blames It All on LyricFind
After Google partner Lyricfind admitted to ‘minuscule’ levels of plagiarism, Google is now weighing in. Google has responded to accusations made by Genius, a well-known resource for viewing and commenting on the lyrics of popular songs. Genius long sus…
Pandora Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Unlicensed Lyrics from Tom Petty, The Doors, Others
Pandora is the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit regarding lyrics from a range of artists and publishers, including Tom Petty, The Beach Boys, The Doors, and others. Wixen, a music publisher that represents The Beach Boys, Tom Petty, The Door…
Genius Embedded Secret Codes Into Its Lyrics to Prove Google Was Stealing Them
Genius presents evidence to prove its long-running case against Google. Genius, the New York-based site that allows users to interpret, analyze, and comment on the (accurately transcribed) lyrics of popular songs, alleges that Google copied these lyric…
This Week In Music Commentary
This week, commentators from inside the music industry weighed in on how to increase you chance of getting lucky in the music biz, why consumers shouldn’t be worried about Bandwear (even after the PlegeMusic debacle), whether or not AI created music should be protected by copyright, and more! Luck Surface…
The Lawsuit Over Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” Guitar Riff Is Heading (Back To) Court
We thought this one was over. But Led Zeppelin’s heavily-watched “Stairway to Heaven” lawsuit is now slated to be reheard in a federal appeals court. The original lawsuit was filed back in 2014, when a descendant of Randy Craig Wolfe, a former performe…
Kanye West (Again) and Pusha T Sued for Failing to Clear a 1972 Sample
According to Kanye West and his legal team, he doesn’t need to clear samples from other people’s works. Last week, performance actor Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple filed a lawsuit against Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Ty Dolla Sign. Filed at the United States Di…
Should Copyright Protect Music Created By Artificial Intelligence?
As technology develops to the point where AI is capable of creating original music, questions are being raised as to whether this computer generated music, and the people behind the code that make it possible, should be granted the same legal protections as more traditionally created music. _________________________________ Guest post…
Led Zeppelin Back In Court Over ‘Stairway To Heaven’
The long argument that Led Zeppelin took a chord progress from Randy California and his band Spirit to create the legendary song “Stairway To Heaven” has not ended, with a federal appeals court again taking up the issue. The court is now considering whether juries should hear sound recordings that…
Copyright Office Set To Make Album Registration Easier
The US Copyright Office has been lagging behind the times for awhile now, but is finally beginning to catch up, with some exciting "innovations" such as online copyright registration system, making it much easier for artists to officially register their work. _______________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0…