Listening to a
podcast done by Entertainment lawyers Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennet, I
realized how some legal liabilities could affect my performing arts academy
business. The podcast was their 44th episode and it revolved around
different cases and controversies in the entertainment industry.
One of the
topics the two lawyers discussed was the lawsuit against singer Robin Thicke
and his hit song “Blurred Lines”. Marvin
Gaye, a famous singer, songwriter and musician, had a song titled “Got to give it up”. Marvin Gaye is now
deceased and his family is suing Robin Thicke over his song Blurred Lines, saying it sounds just
like Marvin Gaye’s song, Got to Give it
Up.
The Gaye’s
family claims that Thicke’s song has the same feel and sound as Marvin Gaye’s
song. Bridgeport Music is also claiming that Robin Thicke’s song sounds like
Funkadelic’s song “Sexy Ways”. The
three writers of the song Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke, Clifford Harris and Pharell
Williams, countersued the family saying they did nor infringe on Gaye’s song
and there were no similarities.
Tamera Bennet
opinion was that the song Blurred Lines
did not resemble Got to Give it Up. She
claimed they were both easy to listen to but no infringement. In my opinion, I
think the song is a resemblance of Gaye’s song. Robin Thicke also stated that
Gaye’s song is one of his favorite songs of all time. Firemark made a good
point when he said that if a lawyer was to bring in evidence that Thicke said
comments like, “We should make a song like this”, or that “This is my favorite
song of all time”, then he might be found guilty of copyright infringement and
declaratory relief.
Breezy’s
Performing Arts Academy has to be aware of stealing other people ideas and
trying to find a way to make it their own. Sine my company is a performing arts
academy, we create music and videos that are sometimes similar to other songs
and videos. As long as we stay far away from infringing on another person’s
sound or feel, we can protect our company from any lawsuits with out business.
Take a look
below at the YouTube clip of Robin Thicke’s song and video of “Blurred Lines”.
In the second
podcast that I listened to by the same lawyers above, they discussed the
trademark issue between Will.I.Am And Pharell Williams. The issue between the
two artists was that Will.I.Am. felt that Pharell Williams stole his “I Am”
trademark. Will.I.Am has many registered trademarks, mainly I Am being one of them. Pharell is
claiming copyright non-infringement, because his mark does not mean same thing
as Will.I.Am mark.
Pharell’s
company name is I.Am Other, meaning
that he is something else. The argument is not over the I.Am symbolism, but, it is over the period in between the I and the Am that is symbolic to Will.I.Am’s brand. Will.I.Am also claims
that Pharell has stolen other trademarks. Since both of the artists are on the
same label, there could be confusion between the two of them. The question in
this case is whether the period is a matter in this case. Will.I.Am is known
for the period in his names. When you read Will.I.Am, you read it just as it
looks, not William. There is not a ruling yet on this case, so what is your
opinion? Should they settle or let it go to trial?
Breezy’s
Performing Arts Academy needs to be aware of slogans or names that they use
with their company. BPAA’s slogan is “All Kids R Our Kids”. In doing further
research for this assignment, I found a website called AKROK Designs (http://www.akrokdesign.com/). My
question is will this be a problem for my company? What if the company wanted
to get a shirt with the acronyms A.K.R.O.K.? Will AKROK Design send us a cease
and desist letter? BPAA has to be aware of trademark issues in other states and
with Illinois, where the business is located. BPAA will definitely need to follow
up on this possible issue.
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