Rock, Pizza and Power Tools: A Song on How to Use Musical Works in Advertising

2012-11-29

ROBIC,LLPwww.robic.ca
info@robic.com
MONTREAL1001Square-Victoria-BlocE-8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:+1514987-6242Fax:+1514845-7874QUEBEC2828LaurierBoulevard,Tower1,Suite925
Quebec,Quebec,CanadaG1V0B9
Tel.:+1418653-1888Fax.:+1418653-0006

ROCK,PIZZAANDPOWERTOOLS:ASONGONHOWTOUSEMUSICAL
WORKSINADVERTISING

V
INCENTBERGERON*
ROBIC,LLP
L
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.

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.

ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommercevouédepuis1892à
laprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelledanstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessins
industrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marquesdecertificationetappellations
d’origine;droitsd’auteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;
informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;
secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchisesettransfertsdetechnologies;
commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,
litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligenteetaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentand
trademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectual
property:patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindications
oforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;computer,
softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,
know-how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,
distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELA
PLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD

Trade-marksofROBIC,
LLP(“ROBIC”)