Opinion ID: 787063
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Measure-by-Measure Analysis

Text: 17 The district court also erred by basing its comparison of the two choruses almost entirely on a measure-by-measure comparison of melodic note sequences from the full transcriptions of the choruses. 12 Objective analysis of music under the extrinsic test cannot mean that a court may simply compare the numerical representations of pitch sequences and the visual representations of notes to determine that two choruses are not substantially similar, without regard to other elements of the compositions. Under that approach, expert testimony would not be required at all, for any person untrained in music could conclude that 2-2-2-2-2-2-1-2-1-3 did not match 2-2-4-3-2-3 or that a half-note is not identical to an eighth-note. Certainly, musicological experts can disagree as to whether an approach that highlights stressed notes, as Dr. Walser's does, is the most appropriate way to break down music for substantial-similarity comparison, but no approach can completely divorce pitch sequence and rhythm from harmonic chord progression, tempo, and key, and thereby support a conclusion that compositions are dissimilar as a matter of law. It is these elements that determine what notes and pitches are heard in a song and at what point in the song they are found. To pull these elements out of a song individually, without also looking at them in combination, is to perform an incomplete and distorted musicological analysis. 13 18 Furthermore, to disregard chord progression, key, tempo, rhythm, and genre is to ignore the fact that a substantial similarity can be found in a combination of elements, even if those elements are individually unprotected. See Satava v. Lowry, 323 F.3d 805, 811 (9th Cir.2003); Apple Computer, 35 F.3d at 1445. Thus, although chord progressions may not be individually protected, if in combination with rhythm and pitch sequence, they show the chorus of Thank God to be substantially similar to the chorus of One, infringement can be found. See Three Boys, 212 F.3d at 485; Satava, 323 F.3d at 811. 14 19 We recognize the difficulties faced by the district court in this case. We have referred to the turbid waters of the `extrinsic test' for substantial similarity under the Copyright Act. Metcalf, 294 F.3d at 1071. The application of the extrinsic test, which assesses substantial similarity of ideas and expression, to musical compositions is a somewhat unnatural task, guided by relatively little precedent. Music is an art form that produces sounds and expresses moods, Debra Presti Brent, The Successful Musical Copyright Infringement Suit: The Impossible Dream, 7 U. Miami Ent. & Sports. L.Rev. 229, 244 (1990), but it does not necessarily communicate separately identifiable ideas. The extrinsic test provides an awkward framework to apply to copyrighted works like music or art objects, which lack distinct elements of idea and expression. Nevertheless, the test is our law and we must apply it. See Smith, 84 F.3d at 1218. The extrinsic test does serve the purpose of permitting summary judgment in clear cases of non-infringement, and it informs the fact-finder of some of the complexities of the medium in issue while guiding attention toward protected elements and away from unprotected elements of a composition. 20 In analyzing musical compositions under the extrinsic test, we have never announced a uniform set of factors to be used. We will not do so now. Music, like software programs and art objects, is not capable of ready classification into only five or six constituent elements; music is comprised of a large array of elements, some combination of which is protectable by copyright. 15 For example, in Three Boys we upheld a jury finding of substantial similarity based on the combination of five otherwise unprotectable elements: (1) the title hook phrase (including the lyric, rhythm, and pitch); (2) the shifted cadence; (3) the instrumental figures; (4) the verse/chorus relationship; and (5) the fade ending. Three Boys, 212 F.3d at 485. Other courts have taken account of additional components of musical compositions, including melody, harmony, rhythm, pitch, tempo, phrasing, structure, chord progressions, and lyrics. See Ellis v. Diffie, 177 F.3d 503, 506(6th Cir.1999) (noting that the district court had compared idea, phraseology, lyrics, rhythms, chord progressions, melodic contours, structures, and melodies under ordinary observer test); Cottrill v. Spears, 2003 WL 21223846, at  (E.D.Pa. May 22, 2003) (unpublished disposition) (comparing pitch, chord progression, meter, and lyrics under extrinsic test); Tisi v. Patrick, 97 F.Supp.2d 539, 543 (S.D.N.Y.2000) (analyzing structure, melody, harmony, and rhythm understriking similarity test); McKinley v. Raye, 1998 WL 119540, at  (N.D.Tex. March 10, 1998) (mem.) (analyzing lyrics, melodies, and song structure); Damiano v. Sony Music Entm't, Inc., 975 F.Supp. 623, 631 (D.N.J.1996) (analyzing instrumentation and melody under the extrinsic test); Sylvestre v. Oswald, 1993 WL 179101, at  (S.D.N.Y. May 18, 1993) (analyzing melody and lyrics under striking similarity test); Intersong-USA v. CBS, Inc., 757 F.Supp. 274, 280 (S.D.N.Y.1991) (analyzing chord progression, structure, pitch, and harmony under substantial similarity 16 test). In addition, commentators have opined that timbre, tone, spatial organization, consonance, dissonance, accents, note choice, combinations, interplay of instruments, basslines, and new technological sounds can all be elements of a musical composition. See Brent, supra, at 248-89; Stephanie J. Jones, Music Copyright in Theory and Practice: An Improved Approach for Determining Substantial Similarity, 31 Duq. L.Rev. 277, 294-95 (1993). 21 There is no one magical combination of these factors that will automatically substantiate a musical infringement suit; each allegation of infringement will be unique. So long as the plaintiff can demonstrate, through expert testimony that addresses some or all of these elements and supports its employment of them, that the similarity was substantial and to protected elements of the copyrighted work, the extrinsic test is satisfied. Swirsky has met that standard here.