By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 13 – For unauthorized use in an anti-Biden tweet of Eddy Grant's song "Electric Avenue," Donald Trump and his then-campaign have been sued for copyright violation.
On December 4, 2020 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John G. Koeltl held a pre-motion conference. Inner City Press covered and live tweeted it, thread here and below, followed by a bit of copyright / Digital Millennium Copyright Act analysis.
On December 28 Grant opposed Trump's motion to dismiss, citing among other things Don Henley's case against a California Senatorial candidate who used his song to "denigrate his rival Barbara Boxer, as well as Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and 'cap and trade and global warming policies.'" Unlike Neil Young, Grant is pressing forward.
And on September 28, 2021Judge Koeltl denied the defendant's motion to dismiss, stating that "while it is true that the animation is partisan political commentary and the song apparently is not, the inquiry does not focus exclusively on the character of the animation; rather, it focuses on the character of the animation's use of Grant's song."
Jump cut to December 21, 2022, when Grant's lawyer pushed to depose Dan Scavino - and it will happen, after a letter that Inner City Press will also cover. December 21 thread here
Inner City Press will stay on the case(s) - watch this site.
Inner City Press' experience with misuse of the DMCA is a UN Reuters reporter, now Human Rights Watch UN rep Louis Charbonneau, getting Google to remove from Search a leaked copy of his email lobbying Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric to oust Inner City Press from the UN - on the argument that a leaked email is copyrighted, a truly negative precedent for investigative journalism.
On August 9, 2024 Judge Koeltl ordered briefing, and held argument that Inner City Press attended. On September 13 he ruled for Grant: "the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment dismissing Count II is denied. The plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment dismissing the defendants' "fair use" defense is granted, and the plaintiffs are entitled to judgment on liability."
30 page order on Patreon here.
This case is Grant et al. v. Trump et al., 20-cv-7103 (Koeltl)
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