Jarvis v. A & M Records
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
827 F. Supp. 282 (1993)
- Written by Katrina Sumner, JD
Facts
Boyd Jarvis (plaintiff) recorded a song entitled “The Music’s Got Me” in 1982. In 1989 A & M Records (defendant) released a song entitled “Get Dumb! (Free Your Body),” written by Robert Clivilles and David Cole, who admittedly incorporated a digitized sample of Jarvis’s song into their song. Known as fragmented literal similarity, such copying involves incorporating an exact copy of an original recording. Clivilles and Cole copied the bridge section of Jarvis’s song and a unique keyboard riff. The riff marked the final section of Jarvis’s song and established the rhythm and the melody. Throughout “Get Dumb!” one can hear clips from “The Music’s Got Me.” Jarvis sued A & M Records for copyright infringement. A & M Records moved for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ackerman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 782,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 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.
