It’s not a good day for competitive cheerleading squads — or at least those who mix their music for routines. Sony Music is suing four different companies over special mix albums that are sold to cheerleading competition organizers. Music from popular artists like Adele, Christina Aguilera, and Beyonce have been used on cheer mixes but without permission or the rights to use said music. One of the companies sells mixes for up to $1,500. According to the lawsuit, Sony reached out to these companies a year ago with cease and desist letters, but the companies ignored the request. The lawsuit also explains: “This is an action for the blatant, wilful and ongoing infringement of Sony Music’s copyrights in and to certain sound recordings. Defendants sell, distribute and commercially exploit customised “mixes’ of popular sound recordings for use in cheerleading competitions that include Sony Music’s copyrighted sound recordings without any attempt to obtain the requisite permission”. We are all aware that music piracy is illegal, but is using portions of a song and mixing it with other tunes illegal? This seems similar to how DJs mix and play songs at clubs and events. A digital DJ license is required in many countries for DJs to publicly play copyrighted music. Perhaps this is something music mixers will have to acquire before selling mixes to cheerleading teams. We’re interested to see how this lawsuit plays out. To see more details, visit the original source here at Complete Music Update. Do you think this lawsuit is fair? Should companies be allowed to use copyrighted music if they mix it and change it? Share your opinion!
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