Intellectual Property: "It's My Prerogative"

Bobby Brown said it best, “It’s My Prerogative, I can do what I want to do,” and that’s how I view intellectual property. Your content, your choice but it must be in fact all your content. Let’s review three instances where using others content without prior permission ended in legal ramifications.

The first case is one of copyright infringement and the defendants are Kanye West and Jay-Z with Syl Johnson as the plaintiff. The Watch the Throne artists utilized a sample from “Different Strokes” by Johnson and have not provided the money due to him. Seems Johnson reached out to Island Def Jam and they are aware of the sampling but have not lived up to deal. This case is mild when considering others that precede it. My opinion about this particular case revolves around the idea that the big fish in the sea think they do not have to pay homage to veterans. Johnson is familiar with copyright infringement, as he has gone after other violators. Island Def Jam only task was to live up to their deal.

Next case involves my favorite artist by far, Beyonce. Knowles-Carter has had a handful of copyright cases but they are usually settled out of court. This situation is a copyright infringement possibility on Beyonce’s Countdown video. It could be said that the choreography in her video instantly reminds viewers of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, a Belgian choreographer. De Keersmaeker believes that it is plagiarism; however no official case has been filed. Clearly, Beyonce was inspired by the choreographer’s work and as much as I love her, credit is due.

The last case to review is Done Deal Enterprises vs. Dwayne Carter (Lil’ Wayne) on copyright infringement. Carter has had at least 12 infringement cases over the course of his solo career. This case has not been resolved or received a final judgment. The plaintiff claims willful copyright infringement for works title “Bedrock” which Wayne released a track with same name. The question is whether or not the plaintiff’s work was registered. Records are indicating the registration came back after the case was filed. This can be a tricky situation because it does not seem as if Carter intentionally infringed upon the copyright. However, ramifications may still take place.

Good rule of thumb for any artist, research, give credit, and ask for permission.

Resources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/kanye-west-jay-z-sample-c_n_935277.html

http://news.lalate.com/category/lil-wayne/

http://cardozoartlawsociety.blogspot.com/2011/10/copyright-infringement-in-beyonces.html


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