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A Bright Line At Any Cost: The Sixth Circuit Unjustifiably Weakens The Protection For Musical Composition Copyrights In Bridgeport Music V.Dimension Films, Michael J. Galvin

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

On June 3, 2005, the Sixth Circuit issued its final amended opinion in Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films,' in which it held that any amount of unauthorized digital sampling from a sound recording is per se copyright infringement. The court justified this ruling on what it termed a "literal reading" of Section 114 of the Copyright Act, which covers the rights a copyright holder has in a sound recording. While such a bright-line rule may have some superficial appeal, the court's efforts at harmonizing current music industry practices with copyright laws written long before such practices were commonplace has resulted …