| Eddy Grant on Electric
Avenue Sued Trump Now Briefing Schedule on
Copyright by Aug 23
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Aug 9 – For unauthorized use
in an anti-Biden tweet of Eddy
Grant's song "Electric
Avenue," Donald Trump and his
then-campaign have been sued
for copyright
violation.
On December 4,
2020 U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge John G. Koeltl held
a pre-motion conference. Inner
City Press covered and live
tweeted it, thread here
and below, followed by a
bit of copyright / Digital
Millennium Copyright Act
analysis.
On
December 28 Grant opposed
Trump's motion to dismiss,
citing among other things Don
Henley's case against a
California Senatorial
candidate who used his song to
"denigrate his rival Barbara
Boxer, as well as Nancy
Pelosi, Barack Obama and 'cap
and trade and global warming
policies.'" Unlike Neil Young,
Grant is pressing forward.
And on
September 28, 2021Judge Koeltl
denied the defendant's motion
to dismiss, stating that
"while it is true that the
animation is partisan
political commentary and the
song apparently is not, the
inquiry does not focus
exclusively on the character
of the animation; rather, it
focuses on the character of
the animation's use of Grant's
song."
Jump cut to
December 21, 2022, when
Grant's lawyer pushed to
depose Dan Scavino - and it
will happen, after a letter
that Inner City Press will
also cover. December 21 thread
here:
OK - in Eddy
Grant v. Trump lawsuit over
use of "Electric Avenue," now
a hearing - on a deposition of
Dan Scavino Grant wants to
take, against "qualified
immunity."
Judge: Isn't Mr.
Scavino's tweet beyond the
statute of limitations?
Counsel: No - but
we are not trying to make him
a defendant. We deposed Mr.
Trump on June 9, & it was
clear Mr. Scavino has 1st hand
knowledge of the tweet &
"Electric Avenue" anti-Biden
tweet
Grant's lawyer:
Mr. Scavino's lawyer told us
his client was busy, get in
line. Then he said Mr. Scavino
had COVID - that's in writing.
So to contest service of the
subpoena now is disingenuous.
Judge: Mr.
Woodward, did you accept
service? If not, hire a server
Judge: It's clear Mr. Scavino
will have to testify. I set up
this conference to try to
facilitate that. Serve the
subpoena on him & we'll go
from there, how ever long it
takes.
Scavino's
Woodward: We ask plaintiff's
counsel to stop disclosing
person medical issues on the
public record. Judge: Will you
accept service?
Woodward: Yes,
with reasonable notice. Not a
"forthwith" subpoena. Judge:
Send me a letter
And they did, on
December 22, that Scavino's
deposition was set for January
25, 2023 "via zoom for a
maximum of two hours."
Inner City Press
will stay on the case(s) -
watch this site.
Inner City
Press' experience
with misuse of the DMCA is a
UN Reuters reporter, now Human
Rights Watch UN rep Louis
Charbonneau, getting
Google to remove from Search a
leaked copy of his email
lobbying Antonio Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric to
oust
Inner City Press from the UN -
on the argument that a leaked
email is copyrighted, a truly
negative precedent for
investigative journalism.
In September
2023, the sealing fight:
"ORDER. The parties should
meet and confer with respect
to the requested sealing. With
respect to any remaining
request for sealing, the
defendants should explain with
specificity and authority for
each requested sealing the
legitimate purpose to be
accomplished by sealing and
why it is narrowly tailored to
meet such a need. The
defendants should make such a
submission by October 6, 2023.
The plaintiffs may respond by
October 13, 2023. SO ORDERED.
(Signed by Judge John G.
Koeltl on 9/25/23)."
On August 9, 2024
Judge Koeltl ordered briefing:
"ORDER:The plaintiffs are
directed to advise the Court
by August 16, 2024, (a)
whether, by the terms of the
May 3, 2001 Agreement (the
"Agreement") or otherwise,
London Records owned all of
the rights in the sound
recording of "Electric Avenue"
such that London Records could
have registered the copyright
for the sound recording of
"Electric Avenue," and (b)
whether the subsequent
copyright registration of the
collective work also included
the copyright registration for
the sound recording of
"Electric Avenue." See Morris
v. Bus. Concepts, Inc., 283
F.3d 502, 506 (2d Cir. 2002);
see also 17 U.S.C. § 408(a)
("[T]he owner of copyright or
of any exclusive right in the
work may obtain registration
of the copyright claim.n)
(emphasis added). The
plaintiffs should point to the
specific terms of the
Agreement, any other
agreements, and the relevant
case law to answer this
question. The defendants are
directed to respond by August
23, 2024. (Signed by Judge
John G. Koeltl on 8/9/2024)."
We'll have more
on this.
This case is Grant et al. v. Trump et al., 20-cv-7103
(Koeltl)
***
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