Copyright infringement is probably the most common type of dispute in music law today. This is mainly because when it comes to copyright in music the line between fair and unfair use is often blurred. A good example of when the line boundary not clear can be seen in the copyright dispute between Facebook and Marshall Mathers (professionally known as Eminem).
Eminem’s publisher, Eight Miles Style, is accusing Facebook’s advertising Wieden + Kennedy of infringing the copyright of their song Under the Influence by using the same background beat in an advertisement feature called “Airplane”. A link to the the advertisement and the background of Under the Influence is available at the bottom of the post. Be advised, the lyrics to the song Under the Influence (which is not in the linked video) is very explicit.
To me, the similarities between the instrumental of Under the Influence and the advertisement isn’t clear, but I’ll let you be the judge.
Other times, the similarities between the lyrics or instrumental in copyright disputes are very clear. A good example of this is the notorious Vanila Ice and Queen/David Bowie fiasco in the early nineties. Here, the similarities between the hook of Vanila Ice’s Ice Ice Baby and the song Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen is very clear. Vanila Ice originally denied the similarity between the songs, as seen in the video below. However, later the parties settled outside of court and Queen/David Bowie were given songwriting credit.
Links:
Eminem Under the Influence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4YecRuCPyk
Link to Advertisement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9VRMJ5ABbw
Vanila Ice/David Bow Fiasco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s0hEi8zhmg
