Jones v. Blige

• Decision Date: 09 March 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-1051.,No. 07-1566.,07-1051.,07-1566.
• Citation: 558 F.3d 485
• Parties: Leonard JONES and James E. White, Plaintiffs-Appellants (07-1051), Plaintiffs-Appellees (07-1566), v. Mary J. BLIGE; Asiah Lewis; Luchana N. Lodge; Universal-MCA Music Publishing, Inc., a Division of Universal Studios; Universal Music Group, Inc., in its own right, Successor in Interest, MCA Records, Incorporated.; Andre Romell Young; Bruce Miller; Camara Kambon; Melvin Bradford; Michael Elizondo; and John Doe, 1-10; jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees (07-1051), Mary J. Blige; Asiah Lewis; Luchana N. Lodge; Universal-MCA Music Publishing, Inc., a Division of Universal Studios; Universal Music Group, Inc., in its own right, Successor in Interest, Defendants-Appellants (07-1566).
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

558 F.3d 485

Leonard JONES and James E. White, Plaintiffs-Appellants (07-1051), Plaintiffs-Appellees (07-1566), v. Mary J. BLIGE; Asiah Lewis; Luchana N. Lodge; Universal-MCA Music Publishing, Inc., a Division of Universal Studios; Universal Music Group, Inc., in its own right, Successor in Interest, MCA Records, Incorporated.; Andre Romell Young; Bruce Miller; Camara Kambon; Melvin Bradford; Michael Elizondo; and John Doe, 1-10; jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees (07-1051), Mary J. Blige; Asiah Lewis; Luchana N. Lodge; Universal-MCA Music Publishing, Inc., a Division of Universal Studios; Universal Music Group, Inc., in its own right, Successor in Interest, Defendants-Appellants (07-1566).

No. 07-1051.

No. 07-1566.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: January 16, 2009.

Decided and Filed: March 9, 2009.

ARGUED: Benjamin Whitfield, Jr., Benjamin Whitfield, Jr. & Associates, PC, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellants. Michael D. Socha, Dickinson Wright, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Benjamin Whitfield, Jr., Benjamin Whitfield, Jr. & Associates, PC, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellants. Michael D. Socha, Dickinson Wright, Detroit, Michigan, Daniel D. Quick, Dickinson Wright, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before: KENNEDY, COLE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

COLE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs-Appellants Leonard Jones and James E. White (collectively, "Plaintiffs") sued Mary J. Blige, a singer, Asiah Lewis and Luchana M. Lodge, lyricists, and Universal-MCA Music Publishing, Inc. and Universal Music Group, Inc. ("Universal") (collectively, "Defendants") for copyright infringement. Plaintiffs claim that a song by Blige, "Family Affair," infringed a song created by Plaintiffs, "Party Ain't Crunk," that Plaintiffs submitted to Universal on a demo compact disc ("CD") prior to the release of Blige's song. The district court granted summary judgment to all Defendants. Plaintiffs appeal that ruling, and Defendants Blige and Universal appeal the district court's denial of their motion for attorneys' fees. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court's decisions.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Plaintiffs' creation of "Party Ain't Crunk"

The song alleged to have been infringed in this suit, "Party Ain't Crunk," was recorded by an aspiring rap artist named Tim Acker, also known as "Benevolence." Acker is not a party to the suit. In 2000, White met Acker and became his manager. White eventually registered "Party Ain't Crunk" with the United States Copyright Office and is listed as an author of the song. Jones, an occasional collaborator of White's, shares an interest in any revenues from "Party Ain't Crunk" under a contractual agreement with White. Jones introduced White to Dannie Longmire, the producer who created the music for "Party Ain't Crunk."

"Party Ain't Crunk" was written and recorded as follows: Sometime before Christmas of 2000, White contacted Longmire and asked him to create musical tracks for Acker to use in making a demo CD. Longmire created a number of "beat tracks"—beats without melodies—and sent them to White around Christmas of 2000. Acker selected a number of beat tracks he liked, and Longmire began creating melodies to add to them. In March of 2001, Longmire created a melody, added it to one of the beat tracks, and named the resulting song (for record-keeping purposes) "Jack 216"—this was essentially the non-lyrical portion of "Party Ain't Crunk."

In March or April of 2001, White and Acker met at Longmire's home, which contained a recording studio. Over the course of five days, Acker recorded lyrics over the musical tracks Longmire had created, including the lyrics to "Party Ain't Crunk," which White and Acker co-wrote. Following the week of recording, Longmire completed the technical polishing of the songs on the demo CD. On May 7, 2001, White registered the CD and its contents, including "Party Ain't Crunk," with the Copyright Office under the title "Benevolent Vol. 1."

B. White submits the demo to Universal

White attempted to generate interest in the demo CD at various record companies. He had a business relationship with Adbul Fakir, a former member of the singing group "The Four Tops," and White consulted with Fakir about potential contacts within the music industry. Andy McKaie, Senior Vice President of Artists and Repertoire for Universal Music Enterprises, a division of Universal Music Group Recordings, Inc., was one of the record executives Fakir knew, and Fakir permitted White to use his name as a reference with McKaie. McKaie's division at Universal does not publish new music; it re-issues prior-released songs in compilations, such as "greatest hits" albums.

White pitched the Benevolent demo to McKaie by telephone in May of 2001, referencing Fakir. According to White, McKaie told him to "send the product in." (Joint Appendix ("JA") 135.)¹ Shortly thereafter, White hand-delivered a sealed package containing a demo CD, a cover letter, photographs of Acker, and White's business card to the building in which McKaie's office was located. After a few days, White called McKaie's office and spoke to his secretary, JoAnn Frederick. According to White, Frederick said that McKaie was out of town, but the demo CD was "still on his desk, [and] he is going to take a listen to it." (JA 136.) White followed up with another call shortly thereafter and again spoke to Frederick, who allegedly told him that "their department had decided to pass on [the CD]." (JA 136.) At White's request, Frederick returned the materials White had submitted, although she did not include the original envelope and cover letter, making it clear that White's package had been opened. A handwritten note in the return package read: "Jim [White]: MCA is not accepting any unsolicited material at this time, Sorry. JoAnn." (JA 19.)

White also was unable to generate interest in the CD at other record companies. When he heard Mary J. Blige's song "Family Affair" on the radio in August of 2001, White believed that it infringed "Party Ain't Crunk," which he had submitted to Universal, the publisher of Blige's records.

C. Defendants' creation of "Family Affair"

"Family Affair" is the second song on Blige's album entitled No More Drama, which was released for commercial sale by Universal on August 28, 2001 and registered with the Copyright Office on September 17, 2001. Blige is a nationally known artist, and No More Drama was a commercial success, selling more than two million copies. The musical (non-lyrical) portion of "Family Affair" was created by Andre Young, a producer and performer of rap and hip-hop music publicly known as "Dr. Dre." Young was originally named as a defendant in this case, but the district court dismissed the claims against him for lack of personal jurisdiction, a ruling that Plaintiffs do not appeal.

As a producer, Young typically creates musical tracks in a studio with several other musicians and then provides those tracks to other artists who record vocals over them. Young created an initial version of the musical portion of "Family Affair" on September 13, 2000, as evidenced by a studio log and a recording bearing that date. Young testified that he created this initial version in a studio with a bass player and a keyboard player. The studio engineers working with Young entitled this version of the song "Fragile" for record-keeping purposes. Several months later, on January 10, 2001, "Fragile" was transferred from digital to analog format and, by that point, had been renamed "Family Affair." Young testified that either Blige or her brother, songwriter Bruce Miller, supplied the new name. The January 10, 2001 version of the non-lyrical portion of "Family Affair" was in near-final form.

Young and Blige had previously agreed to collaborate on a song, and near the end of 2000, Young sent her the music-only version of "Family Affair." Blige recorded vocals over the music. At Young's suggestion, Blige later added a bridge—a transitional passage that connects two parts of a song. Blige testified that she wrote the lyrics for the bridge, while her brother and a team of writers (which would have included defendants Lewis and Lodge) wrote the rest of the lyrics to "Family Affair." She stated that she created her contribution of the lyrics to "Family Affair" in late May or early June of 2001.

D. The district court's decision

After discovery, Defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants Lewis and Lodge on two bases: First, because Plaintiffs failed to respond to a request for admissions that the lyrics of the two songs were not substantially similar and that Lewis and Lodge had no access to the lyrics of "Party Ain't Crunk," the district court deemed Plaintiffs to have conceded these points; second, the court found that, even reaching the merits, no reasonable juror could find the lyrics of the two songs to be substantially similar. The district court also granted summary judgment to the remaining Defendants, finding that Plaintiffs could not show that those Defendants had access to Plaintiffs' song and that, in any case, Defendants had shown that they created "Family Affair" independently. During the course of the litigation, the district court excluded both sides' proposed expert witnesses—Plaintiffs' because Plaintiffs failed to make her available for deposition on the court-ordered date and Defendants' for reasons not apparent from the record. After prevailing on their motion for summary judgment, Defendants sought attorneys' fees, which the district court denied, finding that Defendants could not establish the factors that would support a discretionary award of fees.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of review; legal standard for copyright infringement

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Miller v. Admin. Office of the Courts, 448 F.3d 887, 893 (6th Cir.2006). The moving party is entitled to...