Guide Through the Legal Jungle

Did Food Network’s Anne Thornton Plagiarize Recipes?

According to recent news reports, the Food Network says Anne Thornton plagiarized recipes from the likes of Martha Stewart and Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa). That’s the reason her show, Dessert First, has not been renewed for another season.

Plagiarizing recipes sounds like an odd reason for a firing. First, plagiarism is a term commonly reserved for academic works. Copyright might be the term one might use for snatching a recipe – except there generally is no copyright protection for recipes. Recent illustrations of the extent to which recipes cannot be copyrighted include the copyright infringement lawsuit over Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook and its resolution.

The last quote from Anne Thornton in the news video is apt. There are only so many ways one can make a cupcake or chocolate frosting.

 

Gingrich and Romney's Copyright Troubles

I have previously blogged about How Copyright Blunders Push Political Campaigns Off-Course. The election cycle is providing new – but not necessarily fresh – examples of those blunders.

Newt Gingrich’s Use of “Eye of the Tiger”

Frank Sullivan, a founding member of the Survivor, has sued Gingrich for use of one of the musical group’s signature songs, “Eye of the Tiger”. Sullivan complains that “Gingrich took the stage at political conferences and similar public events as a recording of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ was played over the public address system”. Sullivan’s complaint is legally weak. As long as the campaign or the venue for the rallies had a public performance license, performing "Eye of the Tiger" at a public rally is just fine. In the United States, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC issue most public performance licenses in the form of blanket l icenses covering all the songs in the organization’s catalog.

Sullivan also complains that a political group working with Gingrich posted online video recordings of the rallies with “Eye of the Tiger” playing in the background. The rules for using music at a political rally do differ from the rules for using music in a political ad or video. While one does need a synchronization license to use a song in a video, the circumstances described in Sullivan’s complaint sound more like the song was captured on video as background during the recording of a newsworthy event. Whether licenses are required for such incidental use of music is a question that often tortures documentary filmmakers. Many media industry professionals argue that such an incidental use is a fair use. However, the few court opinions indirectly addressing the question do not provide a clear, universal answer.

Mitt Romney’s Ad Featuring Tom Brokaw

A recent anti-Gingrich 30-second political ad posted by Mitt Romney consists only of a 1997 clip from NBC’s “Nightly News”. In the clip, Tom Brokaw reports that Congressional members have found Gingrich guilty of ethics violations. NBC has already sent a cease and desist letter asking that Romney stop using the ad. Romney’s campaign characterizes the use as a fair use. Even though Romney uses the clip within the context of political commentary, fair use may be difficult to show since the ad includes no added voice-over or other original material. I’m surprised that Romney’s campaign learned no lessons from Robin Carnahan, the 2010 unsuccessful Missouri candidate for the U.S. Senate. Fox News sued Carnahan after she released a political ad containing 30 seconds of Fox News Network footage.