OUR WORK COPYRIGHT AND ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION - Overview In addition to Jenner & Block’s preeminence in high tech content protection litigation, we are among the nation’s leading practitioners in traditional copyright and entertainment litigation. Clients look to the Firm to handle all manner of disputes concerning their valuable intellectual property. Whether the actions are based on copyright, contract, statutory rights, tort, accounting, or otherwise, we help content owners enforce their rights and defend against claims brought by others. Jenner & Block represents entertainment companies, authors and publishers, and copyright owners of all kinds in high-profile litigation, spanning issues such as substantial similarity, fair use, renewal and termination rights, rights of publicity, theft of ideas, and IP joint ventures. We are regularly engaged to handle contractual disputes relating to content and rights acquisition and distribution, talent and artist agreements, and royalty accountings. These claims are most commonly asserted by artists and composers and relate to subjects as varied as the scope of rights granted, the applicable rates for digital exploitation, the propriety of deductions taken, exploitation and collections by foreign subsidiaries, joint authorship, and many more. The Firm’s extensive experience with the intricacies of entertainment contracts and royalty accountings has proven to be a great asset to clients in navigating these complex actions. Representative cases handled by our Copyright and Entertainment Litigation team include: Panama Music Corp. et al v. Universal Music Group Inc.: Jenner & Block won a significant decision the Southern District of Florida when the court granted Universal Music Group’s (UMG’s) motion for summary judgment in a breach of contract claim filed by Panama Music Corp. (PMC). The matter concerned the calculation of royalties owing on income derived from the sale of digital downloads and ringtones and from streaming services. PMC argued that the royalty calculation on digital sales was not provided in the agreement and thus fell under a “catch-all” provision providing for payment of 50 percent of net receipts on all income not otherwise addressed in the agreement. UMG’s motion argued that downloads and ringtones were simply modern formats of records and thus the contractual royalty term for record sales applied. The ruling in favor of UMG specifically held that downloads and ringtones were records and that sales of downloads through iTunes, Amazon and other retailers constituted distribution through Normal Retail Channels. This decision has significant implications in the industry as it serves to limit the holding of the Ninth Circuit in F.B.T. Productions v. Aftermath Records awarding the rapper Eminem 50 percent of net receipts on download sales based on markedly different contract terms. Connie Franconero v. Universal Music Corp.: Jenner & Block won a OUR WORK motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by singer Connie Francis concerning the royalty rate applicable to digital downloads. Francis alleged that she was entitled to a royalty rate of 50% of UMG’s net receipts from sales of digital downloads through online retailers. The court rejected Francis’ attempts to limit the definition of "record" and "phonograph record," because the agreements contemplated that the term "record" encompassed any future medium that transmitted sound recordings. The court further agreed that the plain, unambiguous language of the royalty provision was determinative and dismissed Francis’s contract and quasi- contract claims. Warner Bros. Entertainment v. The Global Asylum: Jenner & Block prevented a low-budget movie originally called “Age of the Hobbits” from being distributed under that name, arguing that the title unlawfully tried to cash in on Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.’s blockbuster “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” The court issued a preliminary injunction, barring Asylum from advertising, selling or distributing any film titled “Age of the Hobbits” or using any mark that is similar to “The Hobbit" or “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Fifty Shades Ltd. et al. v. Smash Pictures Inc. et al.: Jenner & Block secured a victory for Universal Studios and author E L James in a copyright infringement case against a production company and director who created a pornographic version of the popular “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels. The two sides reached a settlement in which the defendants paid an undisclosed sum to Universal and agreed to a permanent injunction that prohibits the defendants from marketing or selling the adaptations of the popular trilogy. Yngwie J. Malmsteen v. Universal Music Group, Inc.: Jenner & Block won summary judgment dismissing a breach of contract lawsuit brought by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen including a claim relating to the calculation of royalty payments on income derived from the sale of digital downloads through online retailers. Malmsteen alleged that he was entitled to 50% of UMG’s net receipts from digital download sales pursuant to a contractual provision that applied that rate in certain limited circumstances. The court granted summary judgment in favor of our client, UMG, on the ground that contractual provisions that set a lower royalty rate for all sales of “records” through “normal retail channels,” was unambiguous and applied to digital downloads. The issue of the applicability of 50% net receipt provisions to income from digital exploitation is a hot button item in the recorded music industry and this is the first major litigation in which the record companies prevailed by summary judgment and thus is of great precedential value. Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Limited v. UMG Recordings: Jenner & Block represented UMG Recordings in a case brought by the heirs of Bob Marley, one of the most iconic performers in the recent history of popular music. The heirs claimed ownership of the renewal copyrights in some of Marley’s famous sound recordings. In a significant victory for our client, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted UMG’s motion for partial summary judgment, dismissing plaintiffs’ claim to the copyrights in question. The court held that, through its predecessor-in- interest, UMG is the statutory “author” of the recordings, which were OUR WORK “works for hire” for purposes of the Copyright Act of 1909. As such, UMG is the owner of the initial and renewal term copyrights in the recordings. In the remaining claims, the heirs raised contractual issues relating to the appropriate rate of royalties to be paid on digital downloads, and other accounting issues arising from UMG’s distribution of albums containing these sound recordings. The court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on the royalty accounting claims and subsequently granted UMG’s motion for summary judgment as to a substantial portion of the remaining accounting claims based on the contractual limitations period. The case subsequently settled. Penguin Group (USA) v. Steinbeck: Jenner & Block won a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the Estate of Elaine Steinbeck, widow of author John Steinbeck, in litigation over copyright to his works. The case put to rest a decades-long dispute over the rights to John Steinbeck’s classic literary works such as Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath when the Second Circuit held that the rights to the author’s best-known early works lawfully belong to the Estate of Elaine Steinbeck. Anthony v. The Walt Disney Co.: Represented Disney and Pixar in their defense of a copyright infringement and breach of implied contract lawsuit in which the plaintiff claimed that our clients’ Cars motion pictures and animated shorts infringed his copyrighted materials and misappropriated a concept he had purportedly submitted to defendants. On behalf of our clients, we successfully obtained dismissal of all claims. That order of dismissal is currently on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. DiTocco v. Riordan: Represented author Rick Riordan and Disney Book Group in a copyright infringement lawsuit over Riordan’s blockbuster series of novels, Percy Jackson & The Olympians. In 2011, secured a decision dismissing all claims. That order of dismissal is currently on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Connie Franconero v. UMG Recordings: Jenner & Block represents UMG Recordings in a case brought by singer Connie Francis. Initially, Francis alleged an eight figure tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. That claim was dismissed on a motion for summary judgment. The principal remaining claim alleged that UMG improperly allowed Francis’ recorded music to be used on albums not composed entirely of her own material. On a subsequent motion for summary judgment, the court dismissed the “coupling” claim, thereby reducing Francis’ claim by more than 90%. Universal City Studios v. Global Asylum: Jenner & Block successfully represented Universal Studios in prosecuting trademark, unfair competition, and copyright claims against a film studio that produced and distributed in the United States and internationally a “mockbuster” DVD that copied the title, title design, and key art for Universal’s 2012 motion picture Battleship. Following litigation in the United Kingdom and in California, the defendant agreed to change the title, title design and OUR WORK artwork to a non-infringing format for all distribution of the DVD worldwide. Greenfield v. Philles Records: Jenner