Britain’s Got Talent contestant-turned-singing sensation Susan Boyle sold just over 700,000 copies of her debut album, “I Dreamed a Dream,” during its first week of release, debuting at No. 1. According to her record label, Columbia Records, not only did Boyle have the best first week sales of 2009, but also the best-selling album debut [...]

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Q: I have a conflict with the title of my movie and the title of a famous song; let’s just say it’s “Free Fallin’.” Neither the movie’s content/storyline, nor the title of the movie itself have a reference or connection to the song lyrics at all, besides the fact that the title is the same. [...]

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Q: I’m a recent college graduate who made a student film that used clips from movies and music that may be copyrighted, not thinking that it would go anywhere. It ended up gathering good buzz at the school and among the professors, who suggested submitting it into film festivals. What are the copyright laws for [...]

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Q: There’s a popular song I want to use for my trailer and post online. How does music licensing work for the Internet? Sites like YouTube? IMDb? The movie’s own official site?
A: The first thing anyone seeking to license a recorded piece of music must understand is that in every recording there exist two separate [...]

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The idea behind the Copyright Act is to foster the creative arts by providing artists with a certain level of control over their works and a means to profit from their creative efforts.  However, the Copyright Act attempts to strike a balance between giving the copyright owner control over the copyrighted work and ensuring that [...]

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In our celebrity-crazed, internet world, the public has seemingly instant access to celebrities’ every move.  Pictures and videos of celebrities, even those taken in private situations, often immediately appear on the internet.  While such public exposure can lead to embarrassing moments, public outrage and potential lost business opportunities (i.e., the picture in which Michael Phelps [...]

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The rock group, Poison, is suing its distributor, Capitol Records, for underreporting record royalties.  The Complaint appears to seek damages going all the way back to 1986, when Poison first contracted with Capitol’s predecessor in interest, Enigma Records.    
But wait, you may be asking, how can Poison seek damages going back twenty-two years?  Doesn’t California have a [...]

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