ESNTION V. JONESTM; Master Recording Copyright Infringement

by Tamera H. BennettJanuary 16, 2008

Updated December 14, 2009:  See Post Here

EsNtion Records, Inc. v. JonesTM, Inc., 3:2007cv02027, N. Dist. Tex., Dallas, Dec. 2007.

EsNtion Records, Inc., a dance and Latin music record label located in Chicago, sued JonesTM, a record distributor in Dallas for copyright and trademark infringement.

Plaintiff alleged Defendant reproduced and distributed Plaintiff’s sound recordings and videos through their CD, DVD, and on-line distribution mechanisms without authorization or license. The complaint further alleges Defendant removed Plaintiff’s copyright notices from the recordings prior to reproduction and distribution.

Plaintiff seeks damages, an accounting, the imposition of a constructive trust upon Defendant’s profits, seizure of articles, and injunctive relief.

Not all of the sound recordings were registered for copyright prior to the alleged act of infringement. That means, if Plaintiff reaches the damages portion of this case, it will only have the option to elect statutory damages for those sound recordings infringed in which a registration was filed prior to the act of infringement.

If the sound recordings are allegedly infringed, then the songs/musical copyrights would also be infringed. I wonder who owns the musical copyrights in the songs. There is no reference to a sister lawsuit by the copyright owner(s) of the songs.