Morrill v. Stefani
United States District Court for the Central District of California
338 F. Supp. 3d 1051 (2018)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Richard Morrill (plaintiff), a singer-songwriter, owned the copyright to the 1996 song “Who’s Got My Lightah” (“Lightah”). Morrill filed a copyright-infringement action against Gwen Stefani (defendant) alleging that Stefani’s 2014 song “Spark the Fire” (“Spark”) was substantially similar to “Lightah.” Morrill presented expert testimony claiming that “Spark” and “Lightah” used similar words, pronunciations, rhythmic patterns, and distinctive tones. One specific similarity Morrill highlighted was that both “Spark” and “Lightah” pronounced the words lighter and fire as light-ah and fi-ah and then used that pronunciation to create a set of rhyming lines. Stefani countered with her own expert testimony stating that any similarities between “Spark” and “Lightah” involve unprotected elements and that any musical similarities were irrelevant because the alleged similarities were used differently in each song. Stefani moved for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gee, J.)
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