Jeffrey D. Goldman

Goldman is part of a very small field of attorneys who almost exclusively handle music litigation.

He represented the defense in a copyright infringement action alleging that John Newman’s U.K. hit “Love Me Again” infringed the plaintiff’s alleged copyright in a song called “Need to Know.”

What made the case unique, Goldman said, was that the plaintiff did not designate a music expert. This meant the defense also could not present a musicologist.

“We had to convey to the court, without benefit of an expert, why the plaintiff’s claim lacked merit. We ended up actually using the plaintiff as our expert,” Goldman said. “We got her to admit, based on her musical knowledge, that the songs had various dissimilarities that ultimately convinced the court that, beyond the simple phrase that the court found was not original, there were no other similarities.”

Goldman obtained summary judgment, and the plaintiff appealed. Goldman argued the appeal in February before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last month, the panel affirmed Goldman’s win, concluding that the only commonality was a short phrase, “I need to know now.”

“To the extent that [plaintiff Alisa Apps] continues to argue infringement of the musical composition of her song, she failed to produce sufficient evidence of objective similarities between the compositions of the songs to allow such a claim to proceed to trial,” the panel ruled. Alisa Apps v. Universal Music Group Inc. et al., 17-17122 (9th Circuit, filed March 14, 2019).

“This is a frequent issue that arises,” Goldman said. “Plaintiffs say that a certain short phrase is basis for an infringement claim. … For the most part, it’s fairly well established that short phrases are not copyrightable.”

Goldman has also handled important cases of first impression as the industry has moved toward digital delivery, such as his work on the Napster copyright infringement case. But as new technology and formats arise, litigation and legislation can’t seem to keep up. Often, by the time a matter is resolved, the disputed technology is already obsolete.

“We’re now almost 25 years into the DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] era, and it’s definitely time for Congress to take another crack at legislation that addresses the way music is distributed today,” he said. “And whatever they pass now, I’m sure they’ll have to revisit again in 10 to 15 years. That’s what keeps this area of law fresh and interesting.”

— Jennifer Chung Klam