Rick Astley Sues Yung Gravy for Use of Imitation Voice in “Betty (Get Money)”

Singer Rick Astley is suing rapper Yung Gravy for vocal imitation in his smash hit, Betty (Get Money). Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo talk about this case on this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here. Cases discussed: * Richard “Rick” Paul Astley vs. Matthew Hauri PKA Yung Gravy; Nick Seeley PKA Popnick; Dillon Francis; David Wilson PKA dwilly; Republic Records * Midler v. Ford Motor Co. * Waits vs Frito Lay Show notes: Scott Hervey: I'm Scott Hervey with Weintraub Tobin. Josh Escovedo: And I'm Josh Escovedo with Weintraub Tobin. Rick Astley has sued Yung Gravy for use of an imitation voice in his smash hit, Betty (Get Money). That's what we'll be discussing on this installment of the Briefing by the IP Law Blog. Josh Escovedo: Rick Astley, artist of the hit song Never Going to Give You Up from 1987, has filed suit against rapper Yung Gravy for impersonating his voice on Yung Gravy's breakout hit, Betty (Get Money). Astley claims that Gravy imitated his voice without legal authorization and has therefore filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging violation of his right of publicity under California law. Josh Escovedo: According to Astley's complaint, Gravy seeks to capitalize off of the immense popularity and goodwill of Mr. Astley by creating a nearly indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley's voice throughout the song. For reasons that we'll be discussing, Astley did not file a claim for copyright infringement. But while copyright law may not be at issue in the complaint, it is likely to be at issue in the dispute itself. Scott, can you explain to our listeners why Astley did not file a claim for copyright infringement? Scott Hervey: Sure. In order to understand why Astley didn't file a claim for copyright infringement, it's important to understand that music has two different copyright elements. First, there's a copyright element in the composition or publishing elements which protects the lyrics and musical arrangement. And then there is a copyright interest in the actual sound recording, which protects the song as performed by an artist as captured on a master recording. Scott Hervey: Astley's complaint concedes that he does not have the rights in the composition. Oh, all that publishing money that he's missing. But it also indicates that he has a partial interest in the copyright in the recording. So apparently, Gravy obtained what's called a synchronization license to use the copyright in the composition. But he didn't obtain a copyright to use the master recording. But he didn't need to do that because he recorded his own performance of the composition. Scott Hervey: A copyright in the recording would only have been necessary if Gravy had actually used part of the existing master recording in his track as a sample, but he didn't do that, and thus he did not need to get a master use license. For the same reason, Astley's partial ownership in the copyright of the master recording of Never Going to Give You Up was not infringed because Gravy did not sample the master recording in his song. Apparently, Gravy had, I believe it was, his producer sings that part of the track. But as Josh said, that doesn't mean that copyright won't be an issue in this dispute. Josh Escovedo: That's right, Scott. In fact, the Copyright Act is one of the two key reasons why Yung Gravy is likely to walk away from this lawsuit relatively unscathed. The Copyright Act expressly provides that a state cause of action is preempted if it creates rights that are equivalent to any of ...