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US 6th Court Denies De Minimis Exception to Soundrecording Copyright Infringement
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Bridgeport Music et al. v. Dimension Films et al. reversed a decision to grant summary judgment to the defendants on the ground that the alleged copyright infringement was de minimis and therefore not actionable. The action arose out of the use of a two-second sample of a guitar solo from a sound recording in a rap song.
The defendant had moved for summary judgment dismissing the claim on the basis that (1) the sample was not protected by copyright because it was not "original"; and (2) the sample was legally insubstantial and therefore its use could not constitute actionable copying. Although accepting that the sample in this case was "original", the district judge concluded that a reasonable juror, applying a qualitative/quantitative de minimis analysis or the so-called "fragmented literal similarity" test, would not recognize the source of the sample without having been told, and thus that the plaintiffs could not prevail in their claim for copyright infringement.
The 6th Court indicated that the district judge had correctly applied the principles applicable to infringements of musical composition copyright, but that this case concerned sound recording copyright which had its own distinct analysis. Relying upon a literal interpretation of sections 106 and 114 of Title 17 of the United States Code, the Court concluded that a sound recording owner has an exclusive right to sample his own recordings, no matter the relative insignificance of the sample, and thus remanded the case to trial. The Court noted that on remand the trial judge would be free to consider the defense of "fair use" and that it did not express any opinion on its applicability to the facts.
For a copy of the decision, visit: