Pickett v. Migos Touring, Inc.

Background

Leander C. Pickett, a musical artist, songwriter, and producer, brought a copyright-infringement action involving his song “Walk It Like I Talk It.” He alleged that Migos’s song “Walk It Talk It” copied a substantial portion of his work. The defendants included Migos Touring, Inc.; Capitol Records, LLC; Quality Control Music, LLC; Quavious Marshall, Kiari Cephus, and Kirsnick Ball, also known as Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff; and producers Joshua Parker and Grant Decouto, also known as OG Parker and Deko.

Pickett alleged that he recorded his song in 2007 and released it on a 2008 mixtape. Migos released “Walk It Talk It” in January 2018. Pickett alleged that the defendants reproduced, distributed, or publicly performed his work without permission. He received a copyright registration certificate in March 2018 and filed this action on October 24, 2018.

Motions and Personal Jurisdiction

Quality Control moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), arguing that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over it. All defendants moved under Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that the complaint failed to state a legally sufficient copyright-infringement claim.

The court held that Quality Control’s agreement with Capitol Records, standing alone, would not have been enough to establish business activity in New York. But Pickett also alleged that Quality Control worked with the other defendants to distribute the allegedly infringing song in New York and that Migos performed it there for six consecutive dates. The court concluded that these allegations supported a preliminary showing that Quality Control purposefully conducted business in New York and that Pickett’s infringement action arose from that business.

The court therefore found that it had personal jurisdiction over Quality Control and denied Quality Control’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Copyright Registration

The court then considered the defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Under the Copyright Act, a plaintiff generally must apply for and receive registration of the relevant copyright before filing an infringement action.

Pickett alleged that he had registered “Walk It Like I Talk It.” But the registration certificate showed that the registration covered the sound recording, not the musical composition. Pickett’s claim concerned the musical composition—its music and lyrics—rather than the physical sound recording. The court therefore concluded that Pickett had not registered the relevant musical composition before filing suit.

The court also rejected Pickett’s assertion in his opposition brief that he had sought to correct the registration. The opinion states that he provided no supporting evidence and that this assertion did not appear in the complaint. The court concluded that the failure to register the musical composition before filing independently required dismissal of the complaint.

Substantial Similarity

The court gave an additional reason for granting the defendants’ motion. A copyright-infringement claim requires a plausible allegation that the defendants copied original elements of the plaintiff’s work and that the works are substantially similar in a legally meaningful way.

After listening to the two songs, the court found that the only meaningful similarity was the phrase “walk it like I talk it” appearing in each song’s chorus or hook. The court concluded that this phrase was not original to Pickett and was not protected by copyright. The opinion identifies earlier uses of the phrase or variations of it, including in songs by Paul Wall, Young Jeezy, and Wiz Khalifa. Because Pickett had not plausibly alleged copying of original elements, the court found that the claim also failed on substantial-similarity grounds.

Disposition

The court denied Quality Control’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 65.