Jefferson Airplane v. Berkeley Systems, Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Smith, J.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS
ISSUES
The issue raised by this motion is whether, under the 1971 Sound Recording Amendment to the Copyright Act of 1909, the registration of a copyright over a sound recording encompasses the artwork on the album cover.
BACKGROUND
The Jefferson Airplane is a world famous musical group that was at the center of the rock music scene of the late sixties and early seventies. In 1973, The Jefferson Airplane released a record album entitled Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (“Thirty Seconds”). The album cover features an illustration depicting a group of two-slice, fifties-style, rounded toasters with white wings and clocks flying in squadron formation across the sky. In 1989, the album was re-released on compact disc with the same cover art. To date, about 500,000 copies of the record and compact disc have been sold world-wide.
Afterthought Productions, Inc. is a California corporation responsible for managing most of the business affairs of The Jefferson Airplane. It is owned by The Jefferson Airplane, Bill Thompson (The Jefferson Airplane’s long-time manager), and China Kantner (the daughter of two of the band’s members). Afterthought…