Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films

• Decision Date: 03 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 02-6521.,No. 03-5738.,02-6521.,03-5738.
• Citation: 410 F.3d 792
• Parties: BRIDGEPORT MUSIC, INC.; Westbound Records, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants, Southfield Music, Inc.; Nine Records, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. DIMENSION FILMS; MIRAMAX FILM CORP., Defendants, No Limit Films LLC, Defendant-Appellee. Bridgeport Music, Inc.; Southfield Music, Inc.; Nine Records, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants, Westbound Records, Inc., Plaintiff, v. Dimension Films, et al., Defendants, No Limit Films LLC, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

410 F.3d 792

BRIDGEPORT MUSIC, INC.; Westbound Records, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants Southfield Music, Inc.; Nine Records, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. DIMENSION FILMS; MIRAMAX FILM CORP., Defendants No Limit Films LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

Bridgeport Music, Inc.; Southfield Music, Inc.; Nine Records, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants Westbound Records, Inc., Plaintiff, v. Dimension Films, et al., Defendants No Limit Films LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 02-6521.

No. 03-5738.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: March 28, 2005.

Decided and Filed: June 3, 2005.

ARGUED:

Richard S. Busch, King & Ballow, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Robert L. Sullivan, Loeb & Loeb, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

ON BRIEF:

Richard S. Busch, D'Lesli M. Davis, King & Ballow, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Robert L. Sullivan, John C. Beiter, Loeb & Loeb, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. Marjorie Heins, Brennan Center for Justice at Nyu School of Law, New York, New York, Paul M. Smith, Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco, California, Todd M. Gascon, Law Office of Todd Gascon, San Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae.

Before: GUY and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; BARZILAY, Judge.^*

AMENDED OPINION ON REHEARING

RALPH B. GUY, JR., Circuit Judge.

The court issued an initial opinion in these consolidated cases on September 7, 2004. Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, 383 F.3d 390 (6th Cir.2004). Through an Order entered December 20, 2004, the full court denied the petition for rehearing en banc filed by No Limit Films and a panel rehearing was granted only with respect to the issues discussed in Section II of the opinion as amended. Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, 401 F.3d 647 (6th Cir.2004). After additional briefing and argument on rehearing, we adhere to our conclusions and amend the opinion to further clarify our reasoning.

Plaintiffs, Bridgeport Music, Inc., Westbound Records, Inc., Southfield Music, Inc., and Nine Records, Inc., appeal from several of the district court's findings with respect to the copyright infringement claims asserted against No Limit Films.¹ This action arises out of the use of a sample from the composition and sound recording "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" ("Get Off") in the rap song "100 Miles and Runnin'" ("100 Miles"), which was included in the sound track of the movie I Got the Hook Up (Hook Up). Specifically, Westbound appeals from the district court's decision to grant summary judgment to defendant on the grounds that the alleged infringement was de minimis and therefore not actionable. Bridgeport, while not appealing from the summary judgment order, challenges instead the denial of its motion to amend the complaint to assert new claims of infringement based on a different song included in the sound track of Hook Up. Finally, Bridgeport, Southfield, and Nine Records appeal from the decision to award attorney fees and costs totaling $41,813.30 to No Limit Films under 17 U.S.C. § 505. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment to No Limit on Westbound's claim of infringement of its sound recording copyright, but affirm the decision of the district court as to the award of attorney fees and the denial of Bridgeport's motion to amend.

I.

The claims at issue in this appeal were originally asserted in an action filed on May 4, 2001, by the related entities Bridgeport Music, Southfield Music, Westbound Records, and Nine Records, alleging nearly 500 counts against approximately 800 defendants for copyright infringement and various state law claims relating to the use of samples without permission in new rap recordings. In August 2001, the district court severed that original complaint into 476 separate actions, this being one of them, based on the allegedly infringing work and ordered that amended complaints be filed.²

The claims in this case were brought by all four plaintiffs: Bridgeport and Southfield, which are in the business of music publishing and exploiting musical composition copyrights, and Westbound Records and Nine Records, which are in the business of recording and distributing sound recordings. It was conceded at the time of summary judgment, however, that neither Southfield Music nor Nine Records had any ownership interest in the copyrights at issue in this case. As a result, the district court ordered that they be jointly and severally liable for 10% of the attorney fees and costs awarded to No Limit Films.

Bridgeport and Westbound claim to own the musical composition and sound recording copyrights in "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by George Clinton, Jr. and the Funkadelics. We assume, as did the district court, that plaintiffs would be able to establish ownership in the copyrights they claim. There seems to be no dispute either that "Get Off" was digitally sampled or that the recording "100 Miles" was included on the sound track of I Got the Hook Up. Defendant No Limit Films, in conjunction with Priority Records, released the movie to theaters on May 27, 1998. The movie was apparently also released on VHS, DVD, and cable television. Fatal to Bridgeport's claims of infringement was the Release and Agreement it entered into with two of the original owners of the composition "100 Miles," Ruthless Attack Muzick (RAM) and Dollarz N Sense Music (DNSM), in December 1998, granting a sample use license to RAM, DNSM, and their licensees. Finding that No Limit Films had previously been granted an oral synchronization license to use the composition "100 Miles" in the sound track of Hook Up, the district court concluded Bridgeport's claims against No Limit Films were barred by the unambiguous terms of the Release and Agreement. Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, 230 F.Supp.2d 830, 833-38 (M.D.Tenn.2002). Although Bridgeport does not appeal from this determination, it is relevant to the district court's later decision to award attorney fees to No Limit Films.

Westbound's claims are for infringement of the sound recording "Get Off."³ Because defendant does not deny it, we assume that the sound track of Hook Up used portions of "100 Miles" that included the allegedly infringing sample from "Get Off." The recording "Get Off" opens with a three-note combination solo guitar "riff" that lasts four seconds. According to one of plaintiffs' experts, Randy Kling, the recording "100 Miles" contains a sample from that guitar solo. Specifically, a two-second sample from the guitar solo was copied, the pitch was lowered, and the copied piece was "looped" and extended to 16 beats. Kling states that this sample appears in the sound recording "100 Miles" in five places; specifically, at 0:49, 1:52, 2:29, 3:20 and 3:46. By the district court's estimation, each looped segment lasted approximately 7 seconds. As for the segment copied from "Get Off," the district court described it as follows:

The portion of the song at issue here is an arpeggiated chord—that is, three notes that, if struck together, comprise a chord but instead are played one at a time in very quick succession—that is repeated several times at the opening of "Get Off." The arpeggiated chord is played on an unaccompanied electric guitar. The rapidity of the notes and the way they are played produce a high-pitched, whirling sound that captures the listener's attention and creates anticipation of what is to follow.

Bridgeport, 230 F.Supp.2d at 839. No Limit Films moved for summary judgment, arguing (1) that the sample was not protected by copyright law because it was not "original"; and (2) that the sample was legally insubstantial and therefore does not amount to actionable copying under copyright law.

Mindful of the limited number of notes and chords available to composers, the district court explained that the question turned not on the originality of the chord but, rather, on "the use of and the aural effect produced by the way the notes and the chord are played, especially here where copying of the sound recording is at issue." Id. (citations omitted). The district court found, after carefully listening to the recording of "Get Off," "that a jury could reasonably conclude that the way the arpeggiated chord is used and memorialized in the `Get Off' sound recording is original and creative and therefore entitled to copyright protection." Id. (citing Newton v. Diamond, 204 F.Supp.2d 1244, 1249-59 (C.D.Cal.2002)) (later affirmed on other grounds at 349 F.3d 591 (9th Cir.2003)). No Limit Films does not appeal from this determination.

Turning then to the question of de minimis copying in the context of digital sampling, the district court concluded that, whether the sampling is examined under a qualitative/quantitative de minimis analysis or under the so-called "fragmented literal similarity" test, the sampling in this case did not "rise to the level of a legally cognizable appropriation." 230 F.Supp.2d at 841. Westbound argues that the district court erred both in its articulation of the applicable standards and its determination that there was no genuine issue of fact precluding summary judgment on this issue.

On October 11, 2002, the district court granted summary judgment to No Limit Films on the claims of Bridgeport and Westbound; dismissed with prejudice the claims of Southfield and Nine Records; denied as moot the motion of Bridgeport and Westbound for partial summary judgment on the issue of copyright ownership; and entered final judgment accordingly. Bridgeport and Westbound appealed. The facts relevant to the earlier denial of Bridgeport's motion to amend the complaint will be discussed below. No Limit Films filed a post-judgment motion for attorney fees and costs, which the district court granted for the reasons set forth in its memorandum opinion and order of April 24, 2003. Bridgeport, Southfield Music, and Nine Records appealed from that award.

II.

The district court's decision...