THE BEACH BOYS VS. CHUCK BERRY (1963) As we begin our round-up of cases, it is worth repeating that copyright is distinguished from other forms of intellectual property by its focus on original works of authorship – which refers specifically to tangible forms of creation such as writing or drawings. As opposed to ideas or brands, which would respectively be covered by patents or trademarks, copyrights are attached to works of literature, art and other works, guaranteeing their creators the sole rights to their use and distribution. It is therefore little surprise that some of the most significant copyright disputes have sprung from the music industry. One of the most famous of these was one of the earliest, springing from Beach Boys’ composer Brian Wilson’s decision to repurpose Chuck Berry’s 1958 song Sweet Little Sixteen with new lyrics to create Surfin’ USA in 1963. Wilson described the song as a tribute to Berry, but ultimately conceded the stance under threat of a plagiarism lawsuit and agreed to give publishing rights to Arc Music, Berry’s own publisher. Aside from its status as one of first high-profile plagiarism cases in music history, the case is notable for the scale of the infringement involved. Other major copyright battles in the music industry would follow, but few that involved the wholesale reproduction of a song.
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