Opinion ID: 788833
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Evidence of PBT's Own Sampling

Text: 56 PBT's final complaint regarding the district court's evidentiary rulings is that the court abused its discretion by admitting the defendants' evidence regarding the extent to which Jubilee's Back That Ass Up sampled music from a Jackson Five song, I Want You Back. In its motion in limine, PBT requested that the court preclude defendants from introducing any documentary evidence or examining any witness on the subject of PBT's use of the sound recordings or musical works of another in connection with the creation of the music in its version of the song Back That Ass Up.  The district court denied the motion. At the beginning of trial, PBT renewed its objection regarding the use of the Michael Jackson unclean hands business, and stated that it object[s] to anything along those lines. The defendants argue that the evidence of sampling was properly admitted for two purposes: (1) to establish an unclean hands defense and (2) to refute PBT's claim that the phrase back that ass up is the hook in Jubilee's song. PBT argues that the evidence was inadmissible under either theory and that the danger of unfair prejudice substantially outweighed its probative value. See Fed.R.Evid. 403. 57 PBT is correct that the evidence was not admissible on the ground that it established an unclean hands defense. The unclean hands doctrine is used to defeat an undeserving plaintiff's claim for equitable relief against a defendant that he has injured. See Mitchell Bros. Film Group v. Cinema Adult Theater, 604 F.2d 852, 863 (5th Cir.1979) (The alleged wrongdoing of the plaintiff does not bar relief unless the defendant can show that he has personally been injured by the plaintiff's conduct.). Because the defendants could not show that they were personally injured by PBT's sampling of the Jackson Five song, they had no basis for invoking that sampling as the basis of an unclean hands defense. See Alcatel USA, Inc. v. DGI Techs., Inc., 166 F.3d 772, 796 (5th Cir.1999). Thus, the evidence should not have been admitted on that ground. 58 However, the district court acted within its discretion in admitting the evidence for the purposes of determining the hook of Back That Ass Up. As we have already discussed, a relevant issue for the jury to consider was the qualitative importance of the parts of Jubilee's song that are similar to Juvenile's song. PBT claimed that the similarities between the two songs included the very heart, or hook, of Jubilee's song. To counter this claim, the defendants were entitled to offer evidence that the hook of Back That Ass Up was not the four word phrase but rather another element of the song — namely, the Jackson Five sampling. The evidence showed that the Jackson Five sampling recurred throughout a significant portion of Jubilee's song (including each time the phrase back that ass up was used) and that it was a recognizable part of the song. Cf. Santrayall v. Burrell, 993 F.Supp. 173, 176 (S.D.N.Y.1998) (excluding evidence of sampling because it comprise[d] only a very minor part of [the plaintiff's] song). Henry Holden, a co-owner of PBT who added the Jackson Five sample to Back That Ass Up, admitted that he included the sample because it stayed in his mind. Further, the fact that the sample came from a Jackson Five song was relevant to the determination of the song's hook because the considerable popularity of the Jackson Five likely makes it more recognizable to the audience. PBT has not shown that the introduction of the fact that Back That Ass Up sampled a portion of the Jackson Five song created a risk of unfair prejudice that substantially outweighed this probative value. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding that the probative value of the sampling evidence outweighed any risk of unfair prejudice or confusion. See Campbell v. Keystone Aerial Surveys, Inc., 138 F.3d 996, 1004 (5th Cir.1998) (noting that Fed.R.Evid. 403 is an extraordinary measure that should be used sparingly. (quoting United States v. Morris, 79 F.3d 409, 411 (5th Cir.1996))). 59 PBT argues on appeal that the defendants could have introduced evidence that the Jackson Five material was the hook of Back That Ass Up without implying that the sampling was unauthorized. 19 PBT is correct that the fact that the sampling was unauthorized is not probative of the question of the song's hook and that such information may have had a prejudicial effect. In a more perfect world, the district court would have admitted the evidence of sampling but would have either prohibited the defendants from characterizing the sampling as unauthorized or given a limiting instruction concerning the purposes for which the jury could consider the evidence. 20 See United States v. Sanders, 343 F.3d 511, 518 (5th Cir.2003) (Under the Rule 403 standard, when the court issues a limiting instruction, it minimizes the danger of undue prejudice.). Regardless, any potential error here is insufficient to warrant reversal. The jury had before it more than ample evidence from which it could have found in favor of the defendants, even if it had never heard that the Jackson Five sampling was unauthorized. Thus, PBT's substantial rights were not affected by the admission of the evidence, and we therefore find no reversible error.