Manatt entertainment litigation practice Leader Robert Jacobs spoke with Insurance Journal on the significant uptick in litigation involving copyright infringement in the music industry. The publication noted the groundbreaking decision involving Marvin Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up” paved the way for more law suits after a jury found that parts of Gaye’s song were copied by Robin Thicke for his song “Blurred Lines” and the Gaye estate was awarded $7.4 million in damages and profits. Jacobs added that the decision created a national spotlight that “inspired a lot of creative plaintiff’s lawyers to be more aggressive in pursuing claims that in the past might otherwise have been rejected as being too speculative.”
Jacobs explained that while intellectual property exposures for content creators are a concern worldwide, the U.S. litigation climate is where those exposures and risks come to bear. “The payday that is available in U.S. courts continues to drive the appetite for litigation in a disparate way that you do not see in other countries,” Jacobs said. “It’s just a completely different set of economics.”
Read the article here.