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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Musical litigation question |
| Date | Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:31:11 -0500 |
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Whilst on a Father's Day shopping mission, I picked up a little something
for myself, namely the 2004 release The Essential Jacksons, which covers the
Jackson 5 after they moved to Epic Records. One of the tracks on here is
"This Place Hotel". It was originally titled "Heartbreak Hotel", but the
band was sued by the writers of the Elvis Presley hit. So the title changed
-- but the song didn't -- Michael's still singing about Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm perplexed. First, how can a title be copyrighted, or at least one that
isn't that original (not like the song was called "Sun Zoom Spark", for
example). Second, what legal value is there in just changing the title -- I
suppose that there was some consumer confusion claim involved, but even that
seems weak, IMO.
Just wonderin'
Mike Bennett
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
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