IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT—C.D. Cal.: Mexican singer Luis Coronel did not infringe fellow singer’s copyright, (Dec 7, 2015)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

Singer Luis Coronel was granted dismissal of copyright infringement claims filed by fellow singer Manuel Ledesma based on a lack of evidence of any infringing actions, according to the federal district court in Los Angeles (Ledesma v. Del Records, Inc., December 3, 2015, Wright, O.). The court also granted a motion to strike the singer’s claims for statutory damages without leave to amend based on an untimely registration of the copyright at issue.

Ledesma allegedly co-wrote musical compositions entitled “Solo Soy Yo” and “Eres Tú.” Luis Coronel allegedly assisted in the recording of the compositions, and Del Records Inc., Sony Music Entertainment Latin US LLC, and Empire Productions Inc. engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of the sound recordings. Ledesma claims that Defendants infringed on his copyrights by using and exploiting the compositions, or by allowing the compositions to be used and exploited.

Ledesma was unable to state a viable infringement claim against Coronel, according to the court. The only allegation with regard to Coronel was that he “has profited from the copyright infringement.” There were no allegations of actions that could be construed as either direct or contributory infringement. Also, there was no evidence that Coronel had the right to stop or limit infringement. Because allegations of additional facts could potentially create a cognizable copyright infringement claim, the court granted leave to amend. Given that the court dismissed the second iteration of Ledesma’s complaint, the court will likely dismiss an amended complaint without leave to amend should Ledesma fail to allege the necessary facts to support an infringement claim.

Statutory damages were Defendants moved to strike Ledesma’s claim for statutory damages because Ledesma did not hold valid copyright registrations because the registrations were allegedly untimely. While registration is not a condition to obtaining a copyright, registration is required before a copyright holder can sue for copyright infringement. Ledesma admitted that the registration for the composition “Eres Tú” was not timely registered, and the registration for “Solo Soy Yo” was part of an unpublished collection. Registration of an unpublished collection does not constitute valid copyright registration for previously published works within the collection. The only valid registration of “Solo Soy Yo” was in April 2015, when Ledesma registered “Solo Soy Yo” as an individual, published work. Because Ledesma did not register the work within three months of the publication date, registration was thus untimely and statutory damages were impermissible. Leave to amend was denied by the court.

The case is No. 2:15-cv-4266-ODW-GJSx.

Attorneys: Lincoln D. Bandlow (Fox Rothschild LLP) for Manuel Ledesma. Robert Edward Allen (McKool Smith Hennigan, PC) for Arturo Corral, Luis Coronel and Empire Productions Inc. Andrew Culp Spitser (Mitchell Silberberg And Knupp LLP) for Del Records Inc.

Companies: Del Records, Inc.; Sony Music Entertainment Latin US LLC; Empire Productions Inc.

Cases: Copyright CaliforniaNews