Cameo Clips

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment for Mariah Carey and her co-defendants in a suit alleging that the song 'It's Like That' from Carey's album 'The Emancipation of Mimi' infringed on plaintiff Rachele Chafir's song 'Sexy.' Chafir v. Carey, 06 Civ. 3016(KMW). The district court found that Chafir failed to show the defendants had access to her work or that, alternatively, the two songs were strikingly similar. The district court noted in part: 'Plaintiff cannot infer access from the fact that the Individual Defendants cannot recall who composed the alleged infringing portion of Defendants' Song. Plaintiff suggests that this collective 'memory loss' creates an 'inference that [the Individual Defendants] have something to hide.' ' There is absolutely no evidence on record, however, apart from Plaintiff's speculation, supporting such an inference.'

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment for Dan Brown, author of the best-selling book 'The DaVinci Code,' in a copyright-infringement suit by John F. Dunn, author of the book 'The Vatican Boys.' Dunn v. Brown, 06-30134-MAP. The district court declined to accept Dunn's claim of substantial 'thematic and structural' similarity. The court noted the theory 'has little or no support in the law as a basis for a copyright claim. Plaintiff offers no allegation of verbatim, or near verbatim, copying; rather, Plaintiff asserts that the basic outlines of the two books are sufficiently similar that the latter book must, or at least may, be seen as violating Plaintiff's copyright. No prior case recognizing a theory of copyright infringement based on the sort of thematic or structural similarity posited by Plaintiff has been offered in his memorandum opposing summary judgment, nor has the court found one.' The court added: 'Far from being similar, the characters, plot devices, settings, pacing, tone, and theme of the two books are entirely different.'

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that a reconstruction copy of a musical composition didn't qualify as a 'deposit copy' for purposes of proper copyright registration. Torres-Negron v. J&N Records Inc., 06-2058. Plaintiff Fernando Torres-Negron claimed he wrote the song 'Noche de Fiesta' in 1993. He applied for copyright registration after learning in 2001 of the song's allegedly infringing use on several CDs. By that time, the appeals court noted, 'he no longer had access to either the original writing of the lyrics or the tape recording of the song. ' Torres reconstructed his original work from memory by singing the song, while clapping the rhythm, into a tape recorder. It was the reconstruction, made in 2001, that he submitted to the Copyright Office. ' [W]e conclude that a reconstruction, created without first-hand access to the original, cannot constitute a 'copy' sufficient to satisfy the deposit copy requirement in 17 U.S.C. Sec. 408(b).'

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether a record-distribution agreement included the right to make derivative works from the underlying compositions. TeeVee Toons Inc. (TVT) v. DM Records Inc., 05 Civ. 5602(JGK). TVT alleged copyright infringement by DM Records of several compositions in which TVT in 2001 obtained the copyright interests of rapper Lil Jon. The songs previously appeared on Lil Jon's 'Get Crunk, Who U Wit: da Album,' manufactured by engineer/mixer Carlos Glover. A 2000 termination agreement between Glover and Lil Jon gave Glover the right to make derivative works from the compositions. Glover then signed a deal for DM Records to distribute recordings containing the compositions.