3 Count: Finally it’s Over

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1: US Supreme Court rejects bid to revive copyright suit over Ed Sheeran hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the United States Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in the Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud lawsuit, bringing an end to the long-running case.

The lawsuit was filed by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), a group that owns a stake in the Marvin Gaye song Let’s Get It On. SAS alleged that the Sheeran song Thinking Out Loud is an infringement of the Gaye track; however, both the district court and an appeals court ruled against them.

The estate of Ed Townsend filed a similar case. However, in that case, a jury ruled against the estate in 2023. SAS has another lawsuit against Sheeran dealing with the audio recording of Let’s Get It On.

2: Dave Franco, Alison Brie’s ‘Together’ Lawyer Slams Plagiarism Suit: These Films Are ‘Not Remotely Similar’

Next up today, Gene Maddaus at Brent Lang at Variety reports that the team behind the film Together is hitting back at a lawsuit claiming that the film is a copyright infringement of an earlier work.

The producers of the film Better Half filed the lawsuit in May. They allege that Together is an infringement of their movie and claim to have offered the film to Alison Brie and Dave Franco in 2020. They note that both films feature a couple who become physically stuck together due to an external force.

However, in a letter sent in response, an attorney representing the defendants said that Together was independently created and that the plaintiffs do not own the concept. Furthermore, they argue that any similarities are not protectable under copyright and that the alleged infringing elements were already written before they became aware of the earlier film.

3: Music Publishers and Elon Musk’s X Granted 90-Day Pause to Copyright Lawsuit for ‘Good Faith Negotiations’ to Try to Settle Out of Court

Finally today, Daniel Tencer at Music Business Worldwide reports that music publishers and the social media site X (formerly Twitter) have agreed to pause their lawsuit for 90 days as they work on settling the case.

The publishers sued the site in June 2023. They alleged that X was a haven for rampant piracy and that it was the only social media site not to obtain a license for the music its users upload. Initially, X argued that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protected them.

The judge agreed that it did, but allowed the case to proceed regarding allegations that X failed to fulfill its responsibilities under the law. Now, both sides have requested a 90-day stay of proceedings pending settlement negotiations. The court ordered that both sides notify it promptly should negotiations fail.

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