UCLA Law Copyright Infringement Project

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Case List

Stories about accusations of music plagiarism appear fairly regularly in Variety and other more mainstream publications. Few of these disputes go to trial, and fewer still generate published judicial opinions. Since the 1850s federal courts have published fewer than 100 opinions dealing with this issue, and the frequency with which these cases arise is not likely to increase. We will, of course, add new cases to the web site as they arise.

With this modestly proportioned body of information we have organized the cases chronologically by decade and without an automated means of searching for them. Readers who know only the name of one of the musical works involved in a particular dispute can use the alphabetical title list to identify the cross-referenced case name.

Date	Case
Before 1900	Reed v. Carusi Jollie v. Jaques Blume v. Spear
1900-1909	White-Smith Music v. Apollo Company
1910-1919	Cooper v. James Boosey v. Empire Haas v. Leo Feist
1920-1929	Marks v. Feist Hein v. Harris Fisher v. Dillingham Italian Book Co. v. Rossi
1930-1939	Gotham Music v. Denton Music Publishers Wilkie v. Santly Bros. Norden v. Oliver Ditson Arnstein v. Edward Marks Hirsch v. Paramount Pictures Arnstein v. ASCAP
1940-1949	Darrell v. Joe Morris Music Co. Davilla v. Harms Allen v. Walt Disney Marks v. Stasny Carew v. RKO Radio Pictures McMahon v. Harms Arnstein v. BMI Arnstein v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Brodsky v. Universal Pictures Company Jewel Music v. Leo Feist Heim v. Universal Pictures Arnstein v. Porter Baron v. Feist Kahn v. Feist
1950-1959	Shapiro, Bernstein v. Miracle Record Jones v. Supreme Music Northern Music v. King Record Distribution Overman v. Loesser Mills Music, Inc. v. Cromwell Music, Inc. Robertson v. Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne Smith v. Muehlebach Brewing Wihtol v. Wells Cholvin v. B&F Music Co Dorchester Music Corp v. National Broadcasting Co.
1960-1969	Walters v. Shari Music Publishing Corp. Berlin et al. v. E.C. Publications Nordstrom v. RCA Leo Feist v. Apollo Records
1970-1979	Strachborneo v. Arc Music Corp Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music MCA v. Wilson Granite Music v. United Artists Ferguson v. N.B.C. Plymouth Music v. Magnus Organ Herald Square Music v. Living Music
1980-1989	Elsmere Music v. N.B.C. Testa v. Janssen Selle v. Gibb Benson v. Coca-Cola Fisher v. Dees Baxter v. MCA Gaste v. Kaiserman
1990-1999	Dawson v. Hinshaw Music Levine v. McDonald's McDonald v. Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. Intersong-USA v. CBS Grand Upright v. Warner Toliver v. Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. Moore v. Columbia Pictures Chiate v. Morris Tempo Music v. Famous Music Jarvis v. A&M Records Fantasy v. Fogerty Tin Pan Apple v. Miller Brewing Acuff-Rose Music v. Campbell Cartier v. Jackson La Cienega v. ZZ Top Woods v. Bourne Smith v. Michael Jackson Palmieri v. Estefan Santrayll v. Burrell Damiano v. Sony McRae v. Smith Repp v. Lloyd-Webber Tuff 'N' Rumble v. Profile Records ZZ Top v. Chrysler Corp. Selletti v. Carey Ellis v. Diffie McKinley v. Raye BTE v. Bonnecaze
2000-2009	Three Boys Music v. Michael Bolton Tisi v. Patrick Williams v. Broadus Toliver v. Sony Music Swirsky v. Carey Ulloa v. Universal Jean et al. v. Bug Music Newton v. Diamond Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films, et al. Cottrill v. Spears BMS Entertainment v. Bridges Vargas v. Pfizer Johnson v. Gordon Boone v. Jackson Bridgeport v. Combs Armour v. Knowles Vargas v. Transeau