After all the awards and attention Frank Ocean garnered at the Grammys, did he really think he would escape the watchful eyes of Micah Otano? The Plaintiff has sued alleging copyright infringement of his song ‘Daylight;’ which he claims Frank Ocean ripped off and turned into the song ‘Lost.’ It seems like the parties are now looking to resolve their issues through a settlement talk. Let’s see how this suit shakes out.
What law Governs Copyright Damages/Accounting?
17 U.S.C. § 504 governs the recovery of damages and profits in a copyright infringement action.What Does the Law Do?
If Plaintiff prevails in lawsuit, it allows the Plaintiff to recover either injunctive and/or compensatory damages. The easier part is obviously the injunctive relief. The court can say “stop selling or singing the “Lost” song any and everywhere. The challenging part is how do we determine what is owed Plaintiff, the compensatory part?What Kinds of Compensatory Damage Can Plaintiff Receive?
Plaintiff can opt for Actual Damages and profits OR Statutory damages.What is Actual Damages and Profits all about?
17 USC § 504(b) (the copyright law) says Plaintiff can receive actual damages suffered as a result of the infringement AND any profits attributable to the infringement that were not taken into account when calculating actual damages.
We will stop here for now.
-Uduak
(AllHipHop News) Grammy Award-winning singer Frank Ocean has been hit with a lawsuit over the song “Lost,” on his album channel ORANGE.
Producer/songwriter Micah Otano filed a lawsuit in United States District Court, Central District of California, on March 6, claiming he wrote a song titled “Daylight,” with producer Malay, who is also named in the lawsuit, along with Island Def Jam and Universal.
Otano accuses Malay of taking all of the production credit for “Lost,” which he claims he helped produce. Otano’s lawsuit claims that Malay directly copied “Daylight,” and turned it into “Lost.”
-Allhiphop.com has the full story.
