May The Suits You Wear Not Be The Law Kind!

It seems that we always hear about lawsuits in the entertainment industry. We hear about an artist not obtaining the writes for a sampling another song. We hear about movie studios not obtaining the proper licenses to use certain songs in a film, and we even hear lawsuits for companies using certain artists to represent them, without seeking approval from the artist. It seems that many people in the entertainment industry are wearing suits, well lawsuits!

In September, Lady Gaga announced that a Nevada-based company was trying to use her fame to market cosmetics and jewelry. Lady Gaga sued them for trying to trademark the names “Lady Gaga” and “Lady Gaga LG” without her permission. She believes that many of her fans would be tricked into believing that she is affiliated with the company. Although the trademark was not approved she is still suing them for unspecified damages. I agree that it is wrong for the company to use Lady Gaga’s name for their advantage without her permission. It is like trying to sell a Toyota car by convincing the customer it is sponsored by Mercedes.

Lionsgate is currently being sued for not obtaining the proper licenses over a song in the Lebron James documentary. Songwriter, Mason Hall, is suing over his song “We Ready,” which was used as part of the documentary without his permission. The first thing that Mason Hall needs to do is prove to the judge the song used in the film is truly his. If the judge accepts the lawsuit, Hall is asking for an injunction against further damages, and wants the distribution of the film to stop. If the song in question is truly Hall’s song, then I believe he deserves to be compensated. Any songs used in films require a synchronization license. I believe Lionsgate is a big enough company to know the process of obtaining the synchronization licenses, and making sure they obtain the correct ones.

Bruno Mars sues Bug Music to get out of his publishing deal. In April, Bruno Mars’ sent Bug Music a notice letting them know they had not yet done anything about their option to extend their agreement. Bus music had 10 days to send a written notice in return to extend their agreement, but they sent it a little too late. This lawsuit shows that if you want something done and if you want to keep an artist you must actually do your work on time! I think that Bug Music responding to Bruno Mars’ notice at a much later date is a bit of disrespect for Bruno Mars. He is currently a major artist, and if Bug Music wanted to keep him aboard, they shouldn’t have waited until it was a little too late. I do believe he should be released from his contract.

Lessons can be learned from all three of these lawsuits.

1. DON’T use an artist’s name without their permission.
2. License all songs CORRECTLY!
3. DO your work on time!