Over 1000 songs played without permission on Ellen Degeneres Show, Sued!
 

What were they thinking? Asked why no licenses obtained for songs, the show said they didn't roll that way. What?!! LOL!

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/tv-...eneres_lawsuit

Some of the world's largest recording companies are suing "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," claiming producers violated their copyrights by playing more than 1,000 songs without permission.

Many of the songs were played during the "dance over" segment of the show, when DeGeneres dances from the stage to the interview area, often through the audience.

According to the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, when representatives of the recording companies asked defendants why they hadn't obtained licenses to use the songs, defendants said they didn't "roll that way."

"As sophisticated consumers of music, Defendants knew full well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act, and under state law for the pre-1972 recordings, they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully," the suit states.

Scott Rowe, spokesman for the show's Telepictures Productions, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the company has been working with the record labels for months to resolve the issue and remains willing to resolve it on "amicable and reasonable terms."

Rowe said the issue does not involve DeGeneres, who on Wednesday was named as the fourth judge on TV's "American Idol," and whom Rowe calls "a tremendous music enthusiast and advocate."

The suit claims the daytime talk show has used copyrighted music without permission since its inception, including "recordings by virtually every major current artist of popular music." It claims the show routinely used some of the most popular songs of the day, which the record labels don't license for daytime television at any price.

Other songs cited in the lawsuit include Michael Jackson's "Thriller"; The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."

The suit calls the segment and the music played by the show's own disc jockey "signature elements of the show."

Plaintiffs include Arista Music, Atlantic Recording Corp., Capitol Records, Motown Record Company, Sony Music Entertainment, Virgin Records America and Warner Bros. Records.

The suit does not specify the dollar amount it seeks in damages.

Wonder why this suit is just now coming out.. Her show has been on for quite some time and they just now decide to sue...
I wonder if they contacted them first to tell em to stop, or just brought on the suit..

If it gets ugly, which I doubt... The music folks could be cutting their own throat.. Ellen has a huge following and all it would take is for her to say something and sales could dive..

i guess the labels are trying to get more money in the bad times of the economy

Hey, copyright violations are copyright violations. I can't blame the music industry for pursuing it.

:1orglaugh Oprah maybe.

There ya go..

No argument there..
I'm just wondering if they contacted the show first to demand them to stop..

They've been on since 2003 and have been doing the dance thing from the beginning..

Just wondering why they decide to pursue 6 years later.

Would be common sense for a judge to ask the same thing.
But.. it's business as usual and it'll be settled with a few phone calls..

I'm thinking the timing has to do with the announcement of Ellen being the new American Idol judge..

imho, It makes financial sense for them to wait this long.

They waited for her to rack up 1,000 so they could get a huge, maximum payout. nip it in the bud after she does a few shows and the damages payment would be much less ..