Copyright Law Case Study - 2640 Words

Music Business Music Technology amp; Production Year 3 K00121700 Case Study Ronan Mitchell Abstract Copyright Law is an important entity within the music industry. It protects the owner of authorship from infringement. Infringement arises when the copyright owner’s work is used without their consent. Although sounds cannot be copyrighted, some cases have shown that the argument of copyrighting one’s voice can sometimes hold weight in a court of law. Singer Tom Waits sued snack manufacturer Frito Lay for hiring a singer to impersonate him in an advert. Mr. Waits felt that his artistic copyright had been infringed upon. Frito Lay’s defense argued that a voice cannot be protected by copyright law as it is a sound and†¦show more content†¦Tracy-Locke, Frito Lay’s advertising agent, approached Tom Waits about using is his song â€Å"Step Right Up† in an advert for RioSalsa Doritos. They put together a version of the song which featured new lyrics relevant to the product and played this for Waits. Tom Waits refused outright as he is vehemently opposed using his music to sell products. It was interesting that they chose that particular song, as the lyrics are a satirical indictment of advertising. The song features advertising slogans used sarcastically to describe a product that supposedly does everything from â€Å"shine your car† to â€Å"make you six foot five, blonde and beautiful†. (Jacobs, 2000) When he refused, the Tracy-Locke company then hired a singer to impersonate Tom Waits style of sing over a song that bared a lot of similarities the Waits â€Å"Step Right Up†. Tom Waits took legal action and sued for voice misappropriation and false endorsement. (Roesler, 1992) As the lyrics for the song were altered to suit the ad, Waits literary copyright was unaffected. The literary copyright pertains to a work of words which are written, spoken or sung. This work does not specifically need to be written down for the copyright to apply. A recording of such work holds the same right as literary work that is written or printed. Written musical notation also falls under this subsection regardless if it is written down, printed or recorded. (Neff, 2012) As forShow MoreRelatedThe M Records, Inc. V. Napster1439 Words   |  6 PagesThe purpose of the copyright system has always been to promote creativity in society and protect the creators’ interests. In applying copyright laws to any creation, three basic guidelines apply. First is the fair return for a creators labor, second is â€Å"Fair Use† of the creators’ labor and finally the Progress of Science and useful Arts to further the public good. The application of these three guidelines in litigation for AM Records, Inc. v. 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