Copyright Developments

For copyright infringement cases involving musical compositions, courts and juries are often tasked with determining whether two songs are “substantially similar,” the legal standard required to show infringement. 

On February 19, 2024, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a copyright infringement suit in the Western District of Texas, in which the plaintiff alleged that the band Nickelback had copied his musical composition.  The plaintiff, songwriter and member of the band Snowblind, alleged that Nickelback’s hit 2005 song Rockstar infringed the plaintiff’s 2000 song Rock Star.  The plaintiff, asserting that he had not heard Nickelback’s song until 2018—“an odd contention,” according to the Fifth Circuit, given the ubiquity of the Nickelback song—brought suit in 2020.  The district court dismissed the claim on summary judgment, finding that there was no genuine dispute of fact concerning factual copying.  The plaintiff appealed, and the Fifth Circuit agreed.

On January 26, 2024, a unanimous jury held that a tattoo of Miles Davis inked by celebrity artist Katherine Von Drachenberg (better known as Kat Von D) was not substantially similar to the reference photo on which it was based.  The jury also found that the Instagram posts showing the photo in the background were protected under the fair use doctrine.