Industry Liabilities

Copyright infringement is one the biggest issues to plague the modern day music industry. As major record companies are facing record losses and going out of business, record companies are exploring revenue streams that may have previously been overlooked.  Not only are there record numbers of artists touring, record companies are exploring any possible copyright infringement cases. Artists and their families are also waging the battle for copyright and trademark enforcement.

Kelly Van Halen, ex-wife of drummer Alex Van Halen has been petitioning the U.S. Trademark Office for the right to continue using her last name on designer merchandise. Following her divorce, Kelly opened an interior design company and attempted to register a trademark using her on name on products like chairs, children’s blankets, interior design services and more.

The incorporation formed to represent the members of Van Halen and their related intellectual property, ELVH Inc., claimed the trademarks filed by Kelly Van Halen were too similar.  Claims by ELVH. Inc. also stated that the use of Kelly’s trademark may cause confusion and dilution of the Van Halen brand. The two parties have recently reached a settlement allowing Kelly to use the trademark of KELLY VAN HALEN with the promise that she uses her full name and does not create any music-related services that may infringe upon the band’s trademark. This settlement has ended one of the biggest intellectual property family disputes in entertainment (Gardner 2015).

As the definitions of what constitutes as legal marriage change, laws addressing the rights of spouses should also be revisited. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has reintroduced a bill that prevents any surviving same-sex spouses from content ownership if they live in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriages. In its current state, the Copyright Act only allows the ownership to transfer to a widow or widower of the same-sex in states that recognize gay marriage. Leahy’s passed legislation will give same-sex artists and their spouses the same copyright protections as heterosexual couples (Schneider 2015).

As one of the largest, remaining record companies, Universal Music has entered in many lawsuits pursuing damages for copyright infringement. The latest suit was filed against a group of companies that sell care packages to friends and family members of inmates in correctional facilities. The companies selling these packages, the Centric Group and the Keefe Group, provide care packages that include mixtapes with music from artists such as James Brown, Eminem and Stevie Wonder.

The outcome of this suit will be a landmark decision for DJs and mixtape hosting services as mixtapes are a form of recorded music where DJs have combined tracks of different artists onto a single CD. Many of these works are unauthorized by the copyright owner and any perspective agents.  Universal believes that mixtapes are cover for piracy with very few authorized distributers in the recording industry. Universal Music is requesting that the maximum rate of damages is paid, $150,000, per infringed copyright (Universal Music Files Copyright Lawsuit 2015).

As copyright wars continue to be fought out in courts across the country, I believe that more artists will turn to live displays of talent to continue driving income. Live shows may be one of the last remaining displays of talent that is exempt of piracy.