In Legal News...

There are legal battles happening everyday in the entertainment industry, specifically when it comes to protecting personal image and intellectual property. Here is a look at some recent decisions that have played out concerning the music business.

Shirley Jones

1.) It was recently determined in a court case involving the mom from the Partridge Family, Shirley Jones, that choosing to walk the red carpet means you are allowing images of yourself to be taken there and sold (Gardener, "Judge: Celebrities" 2011). According to Eriq Gardener of The Hollywood Reporter, Jones claimed that Corbis Corporation, a company that licenses the rights to digital images, "breached her publicity rights" by having red carpet photos of her on their website. The judge ruled in favor of Corbis though, saying Jones did not deny "that it is the custom and practice in the entertainment industry that red carpet photographs are widely used and disseminated," and common practice to "pose for photographers and agree to their requests to smile or to look in their direction" ("Judge: Celebrities"). I agree with the court's ruling and I'm not sure why Jones thought it strange when pictures of her in that public, routine picture-taking setting were being distributed. Well fair warning all you up-and-coming artists - the red carpet is where you go to be seen and where photographers will be waiting to legally make a buck off your image.

2.)  On April 11, 2011, former governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, released the following YouTube video apology to David Byrne of the Talking Heads:

This apology came as a result of a lawsuit the singer filed against Crist for using the Talking Heads' song "Road to Nowhere" in a 2010 Senate campaign video without permission from the band ("Crist, Talking Heads," 2011). Although it was not disclosed if Bryne received the $1 million he was asking Crist for ("Crist, Talking Heads"), we know he is at least happy to have won the case and receive a public apology from the politician for infringing on his copyright. Apparently using songs in political campaign ads without first receiving the necessary permissions is done pretty often by those running for office ("Crist, Talking Heads"), and Bryne stated his "hope is that by standing up to this practice, maybe it can be made to be a less common option, or better yet an option that is never taken in the future." I hope that to be true as well because we don't want to elect officials to help enforce laws that they can't even adhere to themselves.

3.) Last month, popular music file sharing site, LimeWire finally settled with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after "five years of heated litigation" (Gardener, "Record Labels Settle" 2011). LimeWire was already hit with an injunction in 2010 ("Record Labels Settle"), much to the dismay of free music lovers, but the jury trial was still going in order to determine the actual damages LimeWire incurred on the recording industry by distributing those free music files and infringing on their musical copyrights. Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO of RIAA, seems very satisfied with the $105 million settlement check they will receive and states, "this hard fought victory is reason for celebration by the entire music community, its fans and the legal services that play by the rules" ("Record Labels Settle"). I agree.  Anyone on LimeWire's side though needn't feel too upset about the outcome considering the  company could have ended up paying out billions of dollars had the lower settlement not been reached. If you support the RIAA's endeavors to save the music industry and are interested to know what is to come now that the LimeWire battle is over - check out a sneak peek of their next fight: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/riaa-picks-a-new-legal-190232

References:
Crist, Talking Heads singer David Byrne settle lawsuit. (2011, April 12). ABC Action News. Retrieved from http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/state/crist,-talking-heads-singer-david-byrne-settle-lawsuit
Gardner, E. (2011, May 31). Judge: Celebrities who walk red carpets consent to photos being sold. Hollywood, Esq. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-celebrities-who-walk-red-193320
---. (2011, May 12). Record labels settle massive limewire copyright lawsuit. Hollywood, Esq. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/record-labels-settle-massive-limewire-188028
Images:
[Shirley Jones]. Retrieved June 6, 2011, from http://musiclinernotes.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/shirley-jones/
[LimeWire logo]. Retrieved June 6, 2011, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20006958-261.html