Copyright Developments

On February 19, 2024, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a copyright infringement suit in the Western District of Texas, in which the plaintiff alleged that the band Nickelback had copied his musical composition.  The plaintiff, songwriter and member of the band Snowblind, alleged that Nickelback’s hit 2005 song Rockstar infringed the plaintiff’s 2000 song Rock Star.  The plaintiff, asserting that he had not heard Nickelback’s song until 2018—“an odd contention,” according to the Fifth Circuit, given the ubiquity of the Nickelback song—brought suit in 2020.  The district court dismissed the claim on summary judgment, finding that there was no genuine dispute of fact concerning factual copying.  The plaintiff appealed, and the Fifth Circuit agreed.