Legal Opinion
Robert Smith aka Bigg Robb v. Bernard Thomas aka Bishop Bullwinkle
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Decided December 20, 2018No. 18-3380PublishedCited by 6 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
THAPAR, Circuit Judge.
When Robert Smith (aka Bigg Robb) recorded his song Looking for a Country Girl , he probably was not looking for a legal battle, too. But Bernard Thomas (aka Bishop Bullwinkle) copied the beat from Smith's song to make a new one-called Hell 2 Da Naw Naw -and suddenly became famous. Understandably upset at his work being copied, Smith informed Thomas of the issue and attempted to negotiate a resolution. When that failed, he sued and won. On appeal, Thomas seeks to vacate Smith's damages award based on an overly-proceduralized interpretation of the Copyright Act. We reject…
2Cases cited8 opinions
- Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc.Supreme Court of the United States · 1998
- Bates v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1997
- Dean v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 2009
- N.A.S. Import, Corporation, Alentino, Ltd. v. Chenson Enterprises, Inc. Shu Chin Chen (A/k/a Margaret Chen) and Ken LeeCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1992
- Douglas v. CunninghamSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
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3Cited by6 opinions
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