Okay, criminal is a not really what we’d call her. She just stole some music, kinda, sorta,…maybe. Depends on who you ask.
If you ask some of the world’s largest music recording studios, the answer would be yes as they have all filed a joint suit against her show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, for using their music without licensing rights.
So we guess it’s really not so much Ellen DeGeneres who’s in trouble, though she is the one dancing to all the illegal beats and it is her show.
The suit was filed on Wednesday and the plaintiffs, which include Arista Music, Atlantic Recording Corp., Capitol Records, Motown Record Company, Sony Music Entertainment, Virgin Records America and Warner Bros. Records, claim the show has used copyrighted music without permission, including “recordings by virtually every major current artist of popular music.”
When asked about why they never sought out licenses to use the songs, reps for Telepictures Productions explained they didn’t “roll that way.”
But the record companies are not amused, stating, “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.”
Reps for the show insist that they have been attempting to strike a deal with “amicable and reasonable terms.”
Translation – they don’t want to pony up millions of dollars.
We don’t see what the big deal is. A little exposure never hurt nobody and Ellen’s show is a great platform.
Chill out, people.
[Image via WENN.]