Bit Parts

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decided that voiceover work by a customer service representative for videogame publisher Activision Blizzard, that was used for a character in Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft online game, was a work for hire. Lewis v. Activision Blizzard Inc., 12-1096. Customer service representative Amanda Lewis successfully auditioned to do the voiceover for a baby murloc character in World of Warcraft. Lewis was paid at her regular employee hourly rate for the recordings, which were made at Activision's offices. She claimed she thought the voiceover recordings were to promote, rather than be included in, the game. After leaving the company, Lewis sued for copyright infringement. Granting Activision Blizzard's motion for summary judgment, District Judge Claudia Wilken found, “the [employee] training manual Plaintiff received specifically identified content-creation as one of her official responsibilities. Even if she only performed this responsibility on occasion, it was still expressly listed in her job description and therefore fell within the scope of her stated duties.” But Lewis claimed she created the voice outside of the work setting. Judge Wilken noted, however: “Because the 'voice' that Plaintiff allegedly created is merely an idea ' and, thus, is not copyrightable ' it does not matter when or where she conceived of it.”

Band Is Allowed to Self-Release Album During Contract Battle with Victory Records

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have barred the band A Day to Remember (ADTR) from self-releasing an album during the music group's litigation with Victory Records. Woodard v. Victory Records Inc., 11-cv-7594. ADTR had sued claiming the definition of “album” in its 2006 contract with Victory included re-releases that contained bonus tracks. Victory counterclaimed, alleging contract breach and sought to bar ADTR from independently distributing the group's latest album Common Courtesy. District Judge John Z. Lee observed “the record currently before the Court supports Victory's [album delivery] construction at least as equally, if not more so, than that offered by ADTR.” Victory further argued that its reputation could be irreparably harmed if ADTR self-released a substandard album. But in denying Victory's preliminary injunction motion, District Judge Lee noted: “Indeed, in this age of digital music distribution ', it can hardly be presumed that a 'self-released' recording by a music artist would be 'inferior' in terms of recording quality to one overseen by an established record company.” The district judge added: “As a pop band in a very competitive and fickle marketplace, it is likely that ADTR will experience a material erosion in popularity and fan support if it is prohibited from releasing a new record until the resolution of this case, which is likely many months away. ' This will not only harm ADTR, but also would detrimentally impact Victory's ability to benefit from ADTR's continued popularity in the event that it prevails in this action.”

Song License Non-Signatory Can Compel Arbitration

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a non-signatory to a song license could compel arbitration under the license's arbitration clause. Cartagena Enterprises Inc. v. J. Walter Thompson Co., 13 Civ. 4238. Cartagena had granted JWT Puerto Rico a license to develop a derivative composition of the Cartagena-owned song “Y No Hago M's N'” for an ad campaign for the financial institution Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. Cartagena later claimed the campaign uses exceeded the $90,000, six-months license. Though the license contained an arbitration clause, Cartagena sued in New York federal court for copyright infringement and breach of contract. Cartagena nevertheless agreed that the breach of contract claim was subject to arbitration, but fought JWT and Banco Popular's argument that the copyright infringement claim should also be decided by an arbitrator. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin decided Banco Popular could also compel arbitration of the infringement issue because “nothing in the first sentence of the arbitration clause [in the song license], agreeing to resolve '[a]ny claims or dispute that arises from or is related to the Agreement' by arbitration, limits arbitration to the parties. Limiting language is found only in the second sentence: ' [T]he parties to the Agreement agree to abide by the arbitration decision '.' Nevertheless, the principle of equitable estoppel allows Popular to compel arbitration of the arbitrability issue.”

Videogame Service Representative's Voiceover Work for Employer Ruled a Work for Hire

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decided that voiceover work by a customer service representative for videogame publisher Activision Blizzard, that was used for a character in Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft online game, was a work for hire. Lewis v. Activision Blizzard Inc., 12-1096. Customer service representative Amanda Lewis successfully auditioned to do the voiceover for a baby murloc character in World of Warcraft. Lewis was paid at her regular employee hourly rate for the recordings, which were made at Activision's offices. She claimed she thought the voiceover recordings were to promote, rather than be included in, the game. After leaving the company, Lewis sued for copyright infringement. Granting Activision Blizzard's motion for summary judgment, District Judge Claudia Wilken found, “the [employee] training manual Plaintiff received specifically identified content-creation as one of her official responsibilities. Even if she only performed this responsibility on occasion, it was still expressly listed in her job description and therefore fell within the scope of her stated duties.” But Lewis claimed she created the voice outside of the work setting. Judge Wilken noted, however: “Because the 'voice' that Plaintiff allegedly created is merely an idea ' and, thus, is not copyrightable ' it does not matter when or where she conceived of it.”