Griffin v. Sheeran

Background

The defendants filed a first motion in limine, meaning a request for pretrial rulings about evidence and trial procedures. The dispute concerned comparisons between Thinking Out Loud and the musical composition Let’s Get It On. The opinion states that Ed Townsend, the plaintiffs’ predecessor in interest, deposited two copies of Let’s Get It On sheet music with the Copyright Office in 1973. The work was registered as Copyright No. EP 314589.

Deposit copy

The court held that the deposited sheet music defines precisely what was covered by the copyright. The copyright’s protection does not extend to embellishments or other material that was not included in the deposit copy, even if Ed Townsend later added that material. The court also rejected expanding the protected material to include elements merely implied by, consistent with, or harmonizing with the deposit copy.

The defendants’ first request—to limit the plaintiffs to comparing Thinking Out Loud with Let’s Get It On as reflected in the deposit copy filed with the Copyright Office—was granted.

Sound recording

The opinion explains that Marvin Gaye, who co-wrote Let’s Get It On with Townsend, recorded the song for its first commercially released sound recording. That recording included percussion, drums, bass guitar, guitars, Gaye’s vocal performances, horns, flutes, and other elements that do not appear in the simple melody of the deposit copy. The court stated that those additional elements were not protected by the copyright because they were absent from the deposit copy.

The court ruled that the Gaye sound recording was inadmissible in any way that might confuse the jury into thinking it represented the material protected by copyright. For example, the parties could not compare elements in Thinking Out Loud with elements found in the Gaye recording but not in the deposit copy. The defendants’ second and third requests were granted to that extent.

Matters deferred

The court deferred decisions about whether portions or all of the Gaye sound recording could be played or otherwise referred to at trial. The court stated that such use appeared likely to be barred under Federal Rule of Evidence 403, which concerns excluding evidence when its risks—such as unfair prejudice or jury confusion—substantially outweigh its usefulness, but recognized that circumstances or arguments at trial might make the material admissible. Counsel were directed to notify the opposing side and the court in advance before making such submissions.

Disposition and scope

The court granted the first motion in limine as described above and granted the second and third requests to the stated extent. It deferred the remaining sound-recording questions until trial. The order was a pretrial evidentiary ruling and did not decide the underlying copyright dispute.