Pryor v. Jean, No. CV 13-02867, 2014 BL 283332 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 08, 2014) [Doc. 36].
Plaintiff, who claimed that his 1970's song "Bumpin' Bus Stop" was infringed by the defendants use of a sample in the Wyclef Jean song "Step Up" recorded in 2006, had his copyright infringement case dismissed. The issue was that Plaintiff's song had appeared on two albums. The song first appeared on a recording referred to as the "Gold Future" record. Later, the Gold Future record was remastered, shortened in duration, and Plaintiff's band name was changed. The latter record was referred to as the "Private Stock" record. Years later, Defendants licensed the song from the Private Stock record.
The existence of two separate sound recordings (the Gold Future record and the
Private Stock remaster) was important, as the substantive allegations at issue referred only to copyright to the Gold Future record, and not to the "Bumpin'
Bus Stop" musical composition featured in both the Gold Future record and the
Private Stock record. The Court found: "Under 17
U.S.C. § 114(b), Plaintiffs have the exclusive right to duplicate,
rearrange, or remix the 'actual sounds' of the
Gold Future record. Defendants did not do anything with those 'actual sounds.' Rather, Defendants used licensed 'actual sounds' from the Private Stock record. Because the TAC's First and Second claims for relief are premised solely upon
infringement of the Gold Future sound recording copyright, those claims are
DISMISSED, with prejudice."
Posts
