Industry Expert Podcast Research

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 44^th 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.