Lawsuit challenges 'Guitar Hero' ads claiming patent

By Eriq Gardner

During Viacom's Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Philippe Dauman raised eyebrows by hinting that the company would seek to decrease licensing money paid to record labels and music publishers for songs used in its successful "Rock Band" video game:

"As we go forward, we are continuing to focus more on software than hardware, looking to reduce the cost structure associated with 'Rock Band,' being selective in the music titles that we choose for 'Rock Band' based on their cost."

Meanwhile, Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman believes the opposite:

White Stripes claim Super Bowl commercial ripped off riff

By Eriq Gardner

Jack White of the White Stripes once sang: "I'm gonna fight 'em all / A seven nation army couldn't hold me back / They're gonna rip it off / Taking their time right behind my back."

Now comes the test of whether an army can hold Jack White back. 

The singer is upset that the U.S. Air Force Reserves broadcast a commercial during the Super Bowl that used a guitar riff that sounded very similar to the one featured in the White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Girl."

Tyler Perry sued over 'Devil' song

By Eriq Gardner

Tyler Perry has found himself in a bit of copyright trouble lately for allegedly incorporating portions of copyrighted gospel music in his many successful shows.

In the latest case, North Carolina songwriter Johnny Tyrone Stringfield filed a $100,000 lawsuit last week in California District Court accusing Perry, TBS, and Time Warner of incorporating an entire verse of lyrics from his song "I Got Away" in Perry's hit show "Meet the Browns." According to the complaint, characters in the show sang the copyrighted song with the refrain, "The Devil thought he had me but I got away."

This is the second time that hallelujahs tuned to the prospect of deliverance have caused Perry grief. In late November, he was sued for allegedly incorporating a chorus from a gospel song in the movie "Madea Goes to Jail." 

Perry's reps didn't respond to a request for comment.

Ruling on Men at Work's 'Down Under' causes men to chunder

By Eriq Gardner

Thanks to a catchy hook and exotic Aussie flair, Men at Work's 1980s song "Down Under" became an international sensation and the pride of the country. But a ruling by the Australian Federal Court today that the tune's flute riff incorporated a copyrighted children's song from the 1930s has the nation saying "You better run, you better take cover."

Colin Hay, the band's lead singer, has already admitted that its flautist used two bars of a 1930s folk song called "Kookaburra Sits in an Old Gum Tree." The testimony was enough to lead Justice Peter Jacobson to rule that the band plagiarized, opening up the possibility that the Men at Work, Sony BMG and EMI Songs might have to fork over up to $60 million in royalties to Larrikin Music Publishing, the rights-holder of "Kookaburra."

Jill Scott sued by record label for undelivered albums

By Matthew Belloni

R&B superstar Jill Scott was sued this morning by her longtime record label, which is accusing the multi-platinum songstress of skipping out halfway through a six-album contract and potentially owing millions of dollars in damages.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by L.A.-based Hidden Beach Records, claims that the label and its founder, Steve McKeever, helped launch Scott's career and nurtured her into a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter but was unceremoniously dumped in October after a 10-plus year relationship.    

"Hidden Beach is shocked by her decision not only because Scott has apparently chosen to leave the Hidden Beach family," the complaint reads, "but also because Scott is contractually required to deliver three more albums to Hidden Beach."

Steven Tyler threatens to sue if he's booted from Aerosmith

By Eriq Gardner

UPDATED: Steven Tyler still wants to be the lead singer of Aerosmith and has asked his lawyer to make it happen.

Skip Miller at L.A.'s Miller Barondess recently sent a letter to Aerosmith's management that demands the band cease any plans to replace Tyler as frontman, according to Billboard. In the letter, Miller writes, "We reserve all of our legal rights and remedies in this matter, including, without limitation, pursuing legal action for damages and other appropriate relief."

If Tyler goes to court over the band's name, he wouldn't be the first. Members of the Beach Boys spent seven years in litigation before finally reaching a settlement. Recently, the estate of '90s ska-punk band Sublime lead singer Bradley Nowell got an injunction preventing other members of the band from performing under the Sublime name.

Most of these claims are predicated on trademark grounds. A search at the USPTO's Web site reveals that the trademark rights to Aerosmith are held by Rag Doll Merchandising, Inc.  (likely a reference to the band's 1987 classic "Rag Doll").

Miller is calling for a meeting of Aerosmith's shareholders on Feb. 9 to discuss the band's future, including a new album and tour.

UPDATE: We're told that if Tyler sues, he'll focus on corporation issues rather than trademark claims.

Black Eyed Peas lawsuit goes 'Boom Boom Pow'

By Eriq Gardner

What's the world's biggest band these days, Coldplay or the Black Eyed Peas?

Sure, we could measure album sales, but we prefer to monitor the number of song theft allegations.

Yesterday, two musicians filed a copyright infringement claim against members of the Black Eyed Peas, Universal Music, Interscope and others for allegedly ripping off a tune called "Boom Dynamite" to create "Boom Boom Pow," the band's first song to top the Billboard 100 chart. 

According to Ira Gould, the attorney for plaintiffs Ebony Latrice Batts and Manfred Mohr, the musicians submitted their song to Interscope Records after the label showed some interest in his clients' music.

Also, last week a New York District Court judge ruled in a separate case that a songwriter's collaborator had improperly sold the rights to a sampled song that provided the basis for the Black Eyed Peas hit "My Humps." (Will I Am Music was a co-defendant in the case.)

The Peas seem to be catching up on Coldplay in the song-theft allegations department. Last year, Coldplay settled a dispute with Joe Satriani over who created the hook to the tune "Viva La Vida." The former Cat Stevens also made a claim on that song. And just a couple weeks ago, another songwriter filed a lawsuit against Coldplay alleging that the band's biggest hits, including "Clocks" and "Yellow," were stolen.

Do the newest claims against the Black Eyed Peas have any merit? After the jump, judge for yourself:

Rolling Stone loses Round One in T-shirt case

By Eriq Gardner

A California judge won't dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Rolling Stone magazine violated trademarks and rights of publicity by taking cover images of famous musicians and slapping them on t-shirts.

Live Nation, F.E.A. Merchandising, and Bravado International Group filed the complaint in California district court in October claiming Wenner Media was hawking products featuring Nirvana, Beyonce and other musicians. The plaintiffs, repped by Howard King and his firm, have exclusive licensing deals with the artists and allege unfair competition. 

Not surprisingly, Wenner asserted a First Amendment and fair use defense, saying the merchandise was expressive non-commercial speech part of a "subscription promotion campaign."

Judge Valerie Fairbank ruled yesterday that she needed to see more evidence in the case, including examples of merchandise not submitted by the defendants. The judge also rejected the argument that the lawsuit was inadequately pled.

Here's the ruling.

Rolling Stone also is in the midst of a battle with 185 indie rockers alleging misappropriation of likenesses for featuring a spread entitled "Indie Rock Universe" next to a four-page advertisement for Camel cigarettes.

Music producer sues claiming bold identity theft

By Matthew Belloni

A top music producer has been the victim of brazen identity theft by a convicted felon who impersonated his way into a Hollywood Records studio, according to a new lawsuit

Eric Valentine, who has worked with Maroon 5 and Queens of the Stone Age, filed suit Dec. 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that a man named Louis Adkinson has assumed his identity and shopped producing services throughout the music industry.

The lawsuit claims Adkinson (right), whose adoptive brother is the manager of Valentine’s Los Angeles recording facility, broke into his office and stole a plaque commemorating Valentine’s work on the “Shrek” soundtrack. According to the suit, Adkinson and Damon Elliot, another producer and the son of singer Dionne Warwick, then “conspired to misappropriate and trade off the good will of Valentine’s name and use that name to steal from musicians and others who wanted to work with Valentine.”

Calls to Adkinson were not returned. But in an e-mail he sent to associates after he was served with the suit at the Salt Lake City airport, Adkinson admitted he had no ties to Valentine and said he was “very sorry that these matters have arisen and I beg you not to question Damon as a Grammy Award-winning producer.” 

In an interview Thursday, Valentine (below), whose given name is Eric Dodd, said he first learned that someone was impersonating him in June 2008 when his lawyer got a call from Hollywood Records asking about his erratic behavior.

“He endears himself to people and gets entrenched in their family lives,” Valentine said of Adkinson. “He portrays himself as a high roller and tells people he can make them a music star.”

Mark Ballas, a “Dancing With the Stars” dancer who records albums with fellow “DWTS” star Derek Hough, said Adkinson initially fooled him into believing he was recording with the real Valentine. 

“For the first week, he had us,” Ballas said. “He said he’d worked on Maroon 5, he had pictures on his phone holding up the real Eric Valentine’s plaque from his office.”

But Ballas, who has a music degree, began to notice that his producer might not be who he claimed he was.

“He didn’t have any musical knowledge,” Ballas said. “He didn’t know a C chord. He didn’t know anything.”

Adkinson also asked for $500,000 for producing services. Hollywood Records execs called Valentine's lawyer Jeffrey Light, who tracked down Adkinson and threatened legal action.

In addition to the current case, Adkinson has been arrested several times and convicted of forgery. In July, reality TV star Nick Hogan sued Adkinson and Elliot for $130,000, claiming they bilked him after he agreed to invest in a record production company.

Adkinson also has been linked to music services for singer Taylor Dayne and Shawn King, the wife of broadcaster Larry King and a budding recording artist.

The Valentine lawsuit claims causes of action for unfair competition and violation of the state’s business and professions code. His lawyers are Light at LA's Myman Abel Fineman Fox Greenspan & Light, and litigator Allen Grodsky of Grodsky & Olecki in Santa Monica.

The story behind the 'Mad Men' title sequence

By Eriq Gardner

TV producers know that clearing music rights can be a daunting task. By the time a show has hit it big, musicians with songs incorporated within the fabric of a series have a lot of leverage and often have been successful in either extracting big money or holding up the release of a series onto DVD or in other formats.

Leave it to AMC's "Mad Men," which has been a television trailblazer in various ways, to figure out a solution. 

Before the series appeared on TV, producer Lionsgate decided it needed more than mere license to use RJD2's "A Beautiful Mine" in the opening credits. The studio approached RJD2 and wanted to buy the publishing rights to the song. 

RJD2 turned down Lionsgate several times before finally relenting. The musician now calls the studio's purchase an "extraordinarily shrewd" move now that the series has become so successful. 

It's hard to imagine the "Mad Men" title sequence without the music...