Everyday there are millions of law suits filed in the entertainment industry. Listing to Episode 22 – Violent Games, (anti) Slapps and other painless fun is extremely eye opening. Multiple cases were discussed with Gordon P Firemark however “Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Taken Off Youtube” was extremely enlightening. This case involved Rebecca Black v. Ark Music as Rebecca’s lawyers claim copy right infringement as well as right of publicity. Youtube is used for various reasons including advertising one’s song just as Rebecca did. Rebecca received millions of hits on Youtube and quickly went viral. The TV show; Glee; even got their hands on the video to create an episode of Rebecca Black’s “Friday” song. In order for Glee to have produced an episode of her song, there has had to been some form of agreement or sync license received for the show and CD distribution with Rebecca and the Glee producers. The issue arises as she is a minor and who owns the rights to the music, the name, the song and even video? The newest copyright I now understand is the right of publicity. In Rebecca Black’s case; the question remains the same; who rules the right of publicity? Rebecca used Ark Music Records to produce the video and now they want to capitalize. Ark Music had no understanding of how big the song would become. Instead of thinking like a record label, Ark just rented out the studio and accepted the cash from Rebecca’s mom. Ark Music Records should have protected themselves know there are millions of young adults trying to become famous through a variety of avenues.
The lawsuit filed between Murphy v. Millenium Radio Group, LLC is a case which relates to JM Productions. Peter Murphy took a photo for a New Jersey magazine and Millenium Radio Group took Peter’s photo from the magazine and placed it on the radio stations website. The photo in the magazine did have a gutter credit on the bottom of the photo however Millenium cropped out the copyright. There was no watermark on the top of the photo which could have saved Peter Murphy from copyright infringement. The Millenium Radio Group further more spoke for 45 minutes on the air using inappropriate language about Peter Murphy, called deformation. They later deleted the photos understanding the consequences.
Most importantly JM Productions, an online promotional company, will require receiving copyright of all photos avoiding any lawsuits such as Murphy v. Millenium Radio Group. JM Productions will continue to work closely and develop relationships with the photographers. This will allow for a smooth agreement to be in place as JM Productions promotes Christian musicians using photos, biographies and more about the artists.
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