Rock, Pizza and Power Tools: A Song on How to Use Musical Works in Advertising
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ROCK,PIZZAANDPOWERTOOLS:ASONGONHOWTOUSEMUSICAL
WORKSINADVERTISING
V
INCENTBERGERON*
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AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS
TheduoTheBlackKeys,oneofthemostpopularrockbandthesedayswithmore
than840000copiessoldofitslastalbumElCamino,whichwasreleasedin
December2011,istakingtheillegaluseofitssongsveryseriously.
TheIntro:AStoryofPizzaandPowertools
PatrickCarneyandDanielAuerbach,themembersoftheband,haveintroducedtwo
lawsuitsbeforethefederalcourtinLosAngeleslastJune
[Auerbachv.PizzaHut,12-
05385,andAuerbachv.HomeDepot,2:12-cv-05386,U.S.DistrictCourt,Central
DistrictofCalifornia(LosAngeles),basedonthefollowingarticle:DonJeffrey,
Bloomberg.com:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-22/black-keys-rock-duo-
sues-pizza-hut-home-depot-over-songs.html,June22,2012].Inthefirstlawsuit,the
groupclaimsthatPizzaHuthasillegallyusedimportantpartsofthesongGoldonthe
Ceilinginatelevisioncommercialforitspizzarestaurants.Intheotherlawsuit,the
groupclaimsthatTheHomeDepothasusedthesongLonelyBoyinatelevision
commercialpromotingpowertools.Bothofthesesongsarefromthepopularalbum
ElCamino.
Atthetimeofwritingthisarticle,mediareportthatthegrouphasfinallysettledthese
twolawsuitsagainstTheHomeDepotandPizzaHut,eventhoughthedetailsof
thesesettlementsremainconfidential
[TheBlackKeyssettlelawsuitsagainstHome
Depot,PizzaHut,OttawaCitizen,November28,2012].
TheVerse:AnIsolatedCase?
Thiskindoflawsuitisnotnew,sinceotherartistshavefiledlawsuitsagainst
companiesthathaveillegallyusedmusicalworksinadvertisinginthepast.In
Germany,therapperEminemhasfiledalawsuitagainsttheautomobilemakerAudi
in2011
[EightMileStylev.Audi,CourtNo.310O185/11],followinganunauthorized
useofaninterpretationofthesongLoseYourselfinatelevisioncommercial.Inthe
©CIPS,2012.*FromROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheFallr2012(Vol.16,no.3)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.157E.
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MONTREAL1001Square-Victoria-BlocE-8thFloor
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2
UnitedStates,TomWaitshasalsofiledlawsuitsagainstFritoLay[Waitsv.FritoLay,
978F.2d1093(9thCir.1992).]andLeviStrauss&Co[KarstenStrauss,
Forbes.com:http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2012/07/02/pizza-hut-
home-depot-sued-by-rock-stars/,July2,2012].forsimilarunauthorizedusesofhis
musicalworks.
TheChorus:TheImportanceofObtainingaLicense
Thereasonwhythistypeoflawsuitgoesonbeingrepeatedisbecausetheuseof
musicinadvertisingisnotnew.Itisindeedfrequenttoseetelevisioncommercials
thatfeaturefamoussongsasbackgroundmusicinordertodrawtheattentionof
potentialconsumers.However,itisessentialtokeepinmindthatthesemusical
worksareprotectedbycopyright.Thus,itisnecessarytoobtaintheconsentofthe
copyrightownersonthesesongsthroughtheappropriatelicensestousethemina
commercialcontext.Intheabsenceofsuchalicense,theunauthorizeduseofawork
willconstituteanactofcopyrightinfringementandwillexposetheinfringertothe
remediesprovidedbytheCopyrightAct.
TheBridge:HowtoObtainaLicense?
InCanada,itisnecessarytoobtainasynchronizationlicensetoassembleamusical
workinatelevisioncommercial.Suchalicenseallowsthesynchronizationofthe
soundrecordingofthemusicalworkwiththeimagesandotheraudioelementsofa
cinematographicwork,suchasatelevisioncommercialoramovie.
Manypeoplemayhavetheirsaywithregardtothegrantofasynchronizationlicense
ontherecordingofamusicalwork,includingthepublisher,theproducer,theauthors,
thecomposersortheperformers.However,inCanada,itissimplertofirstcontact
thecollectivesocietieswhospecificallyadministerthereproductionrightson
numerousmusicalworks,suchastheSODRAC(SocietyforReproductionRightsof
Authors,ComposersandPublishersinCanada).
TheOutro:StayinTune
Obviously,whenindoubtaboutaparticularuseofamusicalwork,itisimportantto
contactyourlegalcounselspecializedincopyrightandintellectualpropertyinorder
toensurethatyouareintunewiththeapplicablelaw.
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Tel.:+1418653-1888Fax.:+1418653-0006
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