COPYRIGHT-INFRINGEMENT LITIGATION AND THE ROLE OF MUSICOLOGY

Thursday, September 26, 2024
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
JW Marriott, Nashville

Included with your meeting registration
(Please indicate CLE attendance during registration; there is no additional cost)
1 Credit Hours* (where approved)

In copyright-infringement litigation involving music, a plaintiff must prove two elements: ownership and copying. Direct evidence of copying is rarely available, so a plaintiff can prove copying by showing that the defendant had access to the copyrighted work and a "substantial similarity" (the copying of protected expression) exists between the infringed work and the infringing work. Proving substantial similarity almost always requires the testimony of an expert musicologist. Dr. Lawrence Ferrara, Professor of Music and Director Emeritus of Steinhardt Music and Performing Arts at NYU, has provided music analyses on behalf of scores of artists and composers, such as Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Jay Z, Maria Carey and many others. Dr. Ferrara will explain the art of musicology and demonstrate how a convincing musicologist can explain music theory and actionable similarity to a jury through examples in two cases where he served as the expert musicologist for the prevailing parties: Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin (“Stairway to Heaven”) and Repp v. Webber (“Phantom of the Opera”).