The federal district court in New York City correctly dismissed Joel R. McDonald’s amended complaint against musicians and record producers Kanye West, Shawn Carter (“Jay Z”), and others because the defendants’ song “Made in America” was not substantially similar to McDonald’s song with the same title, either in terms of lyrical content or musical structure, according to the Second Circuit. The ruling of the lower court was affirmed for substantially the reasons stated by the district court in its thorough and well-reasoned opinion, the court said (McDonald v West, October 7, 2016, per curiam).
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.
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