Jackson v. Warner Music Group Corp.

Background

Jouan Jabez Jackson proceeded without a lawyer and was allowed to proceed without paying filing fees. He alleged that he owned the copyright to Photofinish, a collection of song lyrics registered with the United States Copyright Office, and that he had registered four additional songs. He claimed that Warner Music Group Corp., Atlantic Recording Corporation, Atlantic Records, recording artists, producers, songwriters, musicians, executives, and the ABC Television Network used elements of his works without authorization in songs, albums, and television performances.

Jackson alleged a long-running pattern of intentional copying, including copying across multiple works. He relied on side-by-side, line-by-line, thematic, and artificial-intelligence-assisted comparisons. He sought $10 billion in damages, injunctive relief, destruction of allegedly infringing materials, and a declaration that the defendants infringed his copyrights.

Prior proceedings and preclusion

The opinion describes two earlier related proceedings in the Eastern District of Virginia. In the first, the court dismissed Jackson’s copyright claims for failure to state a claim, finding that he had not adequately alleged access to his work or substantial similarity. In the second, the court granted Atlantic summary judgment on some claims under claim preclusion and dismissed other claims for failure to state a claim after finding no substantial similarity. Jackson did not appeal either ruling.

The court held that claim preclusion— which prevents a party from bringing the same claim, or a claim that could have been brought, after a final judgment—required dismissal of claims against Atlantic based on alleged infringement occurring on or before the dismissal of the first earlier proceeding. The court also applied issue preclusion, which prevents relitigation of an issue actually decided in an earlier case, to claims concerning Atlantic’s alleged use of Jackson’s lyrics in “One Voice,” “Have You Ever,” “Never Say Never,” and “U Don’t Know Me.” The court dismissed those claims for failure to state a claim.

Copyright-registration issue

The court concluded that Jackson had not shown ownership of a registered copyright in a musical composition called Photofinish. The Copyright Office record described Photofinish as a collection of song lyrics and did not show that it included music. Because copyright infringement requires ownership of a valid copyright and infringement of that copyright, the court dismissed any claims based on an alleged copyright in a musical composition.

Lyrics-only infringement claims

The court also held that Jackson failed to state a claim based on his lyrics-only copyright. A copyright protects original expression, not ideas, themes, common words, or short phrases. To plausibly allege infringement, Jackson had to provide facts showing that defendants actually copied protected parts of his work and that the challenged works were substantially similar to those protected parts.

The court found that Jackson’s comparisons did not show that defendants copied any part of Photofinish. Any similarities identified in the complaint involved common words, phrases, or themes that copyright law does not protect. The court therefore dismissed the remaining federal copyright claims for failure to state a claim. Although the court discussed the copyright statute of limitations, it assumed for purposes of the order that some claims might be timely because Jackson alleged successive infringements; timeliness was not the basis for dismissal.

Disposition

The court dismissed the action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. It denied Jackson leave to file another amended complaint because another amendment would be futile. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action. It also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Jackson fee-free status for an appeal.