Brother Records, Inc. v. Jardine

318 F.3d 900 (2003)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
B
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Brother Records, Inc. v. Jardine

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
318 F.3d 900 (2003)

Facts

In the 1960s, the Beach Boys formed Brother Records, Inc. (BRI) (plaintiff) to administer the music group’s intellectual-property rights. In the 1990s, two of the original founding members, Al Jardine (defendant) and Mike Love, both wanted to tour. However, by this point in the band’s history, discord had developed among the members, such that Jardine and Love did not want to tour together. The BRI board agreed to issue nonexclusive licenses to each member who wanted to tour separately while using the Beach Boys as a trademarked entity. Love undertook a tour under a nonexclusive license. Jardine attempted to carry out a tour of his own, using names that included “Beach Boys”—e.g., Beach Boys Family and Friends, but with “Beach Boys” displayed more prominently than “Family and Friends.” A dispute arose as to whether a license had been granted to Jardine. BRI brought suit for infringement of the Beach Boys as a trademark. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of BRI and issued a permanent injunction. Jardine appealed, arguing that his use of “Beach Boys” was protected by both nominative fair use and classic (or descriptive) fair use. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Tashima, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 805,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Entertainment Law

Key Terms