They include a court-ordered injunction to stop Underwood, the NFL and NBC from continuing to use "Game On." Merrill also seeks unspecified monetary damages that would be proven at trial. Merrill demands several types of remedies. The NFL and NBC, Merrill insists, “gained monetary and/or goodwill benefits” from using "Game On." To accentuate that point, Merrill’s complaint notes that SNF “is among the most-watched programs on television in the United States and is often the single highest-rated broadcast on television during the weeks in which it airs.” Further, SNF “is also broadcast internationally, including throughout Latin America and in the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the Philippines.” Merrill is incentivized to depict SNF’s audience as large as possible: the more viewers, the greater the potential monetary damages. Merrill also sues the NFL and NBC because of their role in broadcasting and distributing the song to television audiences and fans in stadiums. In possessing a copyright, Merrill and her fellow songwriters were the exclusive owners of all right, title and interest in the song. More technically, Merrill alleges that Underwood engaged in copyright infringement, in that Merrill possessed a valid copyright in the song and Underwood reproduced and globally broadcast it without Merrill’s authorization. Merrill’s core legal claim is that Underwood and her co-defendants used, and profited from, "Game On" without Merrill’s permission. Merrill contends that at some point after she emailed the link to Rai, Bright and his colleagues must have played "Game On" to Underwood and Underwood decided to use it. According to Merrill’s complaint, CBS Inside College Basketball used the song during one of its broadcasts that month.
#GETTING OVER IT GAME SONG TV#
Her goal was to have the song licensed for use in TV broadcasts of sporting events. It was during that same month, Merrill insists, that she began to market the song. In March 2017, the video was published on YouTube.
#GETTING OVER IT GAME SONG REGISTRATION#
Copyright Office, with an effective registration date of May 24, 2019.Ī video for "Game On" was produced towards the end of 2016. Merrill’s "Game On" was registered later on with the U.S. Registration, however, provides certain legal benefits, including a presumption of ownership and the ability to sue for infringement. Copyright Office, nor does it require affixing the © symbol.
It is not dependent on registration with the U.S. Copyright protection begins the moment a work is created in tangible form, such as an audio recording. In June 2016, Merrill met with three others in Nashville to compose and record "Game On." By creating the song, the group obtained a copyright in it. When Underwood and the other defendants answer Merrill’s complaint and file other pleadings, different and in some instances contradictory facts will be presented. Merrill’s complaint, as authored by her attorneys, offers a retelling of facts from her vantage point. Both are seasoned intellectual property litigators.Ī Brief History of the two "Game On" songs Merrill has retained attorneys Sam Israel and Timothy Foster to represent her in the case. Each has played a role in SNF using and broadcasting Underwood’s version of "Game On."
Underwood is the key defendant, but eight other parties, including Underwood’s producer (Mark Bright), the NFL, NBC, Warner/Chappell Music and EMI Entertainment World have also been sued. Merrill depicts Underwood as falsely claiming that "Game On" is her original work. As Merrill sees it, Underwood was legally obligated to acknowledge Merrill as the song’s author and to acquire Merrill’s permission in order to use the song. Although Merrill concedes that Underwood’s version of "Game On" is different, Merrill insists that Underwood’s alterations are inconsequential.
Merrill and her co-plaintiffs stress that they wrote, composed and recorded a song called "Game On" in 2016.
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