Beyoncé's $20 Million Copyright Infringement Lawsuit: Predicting the Likely Outcome

Abstract

There is a long list of copyright infringement among musicians in the United States of America. The freshest and hottest of such lawsuits is one against Beyonce, the superstar musician, for allegedly misappropriating the works of late Anthony Barre. The Estate of Anthony Barre and its sole heir Angel Barre filed a lawsuit against Beyonce Knowles Carter and others for a four-count claim of (1) willful copyright infringement, (2) false endorsement, (3) unfair trade practices, and (4) unjust enrichment for infringement and wrongful appropriation of Anthony Barre’s voice, copyrighted works, and other intellectual property. The writers shall analyze this case in relation to the American copyright jurisprudence; see the possibility of relying on the fair use defense, and proffer suggestion as to the best approach to follow in this case.

Keywords: Copyright Infringement, Fair Use Defense, Music Copyright Infringement

JEL Classification: K