Tresóna Multimedia, LLC v. Burbank High School Vocal Music Ass'n
March 30, 2020
The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the vocal music director at Burbank High School and other defendants in a copyright suit and reversed the district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees to defendants.
Tresóna Multimedia, LLC, a licensing company, claimed that the Burbank High School student show choirs failed to obtain licenses for their use of copyrighted sheet music in arranging a show choir performance. The panel concluded that Tresóna lacked standing under 17 U.S.C. § 501(b) to sue as to three of the four musical works at issue because it received its interests in those songs from individual co-owners of copyright, without the consent of the other co-owners, and therefore held only non-exclusive licenses in those works Affirming in part on different grounds from the district court, the panel held that the defense of fair use rendered the use of the fourth musical work noninfringing. The panel concluded that the educational purpose of the use was an enumerated fair use purpose under 17 U.S.C. § 107. In addition, the purpose and character of the use, which was transformative, weighed strongly in favor of a finding of fair use. The nature of the copyrighted work weighed against fair use because the original arrangement of the song was creative. Neither (1) the amount and substantiality of the portion used nor (2) the effect upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work weighed against fair use. The panel stated that it was especially swayed by the limited and transformative nature of the use and the work’s nonprofit educational purposes in enhancing the educational experience of high school students. The panel concluded that the music director’s use of a small portion of the song, along with portions of other songs, to create sheet music for a new and different high school choir showpiece performance was a fair use.
Reversing in part, the panel held that the district court abused its discretion in denying defendants attorneys’ fees under 17 U.S.C. § 505 because defendants prevailed across the board in this action in the district court and won a ruling on their fair use defense on appeal, Tresóna’s arguments were objectively unreasonable, and an award of fees would further the purposes of the Copyright Act. The panel therefore awarded defendants’ attorneys’ fees and remanded to the district court for the calculation of the award.
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