Beach Boys Make Ridiculous Copyright Claim Over Katy Perry's California Gurls

from the let-me-explain-idea-expression... dept

Thu, Aug 5th 2010 1:23pm — Mike Masnick

AdamR was the first of a bunch of you to send in the news that the Beach Boys are threatening to sue Katy Perry and/or her label if they're not given songwriting credits for her song California Gurls. The Beach Boys, of course, did have a famous song back in 1965, called California Girls, with the classic line "I wish they all could be California Girls..." In the Katy Perry song, which is very different than the Beach Boys song, at the very, very, very end, Snoop Dogg says "I really wish you all could be California girls," so the quote isn't even a direct one. I would have embedded the video here for you all to see, but Perry's label is EMI, and EMI is still doesn't understand why embedding videos is a good idea.

Either way, the demands for a songwriting credit are ridiculous. Hopefully EMI and Perry stand up to Mike Love and Brian Wilson over this (amusingly, we were just covering how Love and Wilson were involved in a totally frivolous lawsuit between each other), though I could see EMI giving in so as not to open up the copyright can of worms over lyrics quotations and fair use. The use of the (modified) line here seems like a clear, undeniable case of fair use. It's laughable to think that Love/Wilson deserve writing credits for a throwaway statement at the very end of a totally different song that, in some ways, is just an homage to their song.

Also complicating things? It looks like Love and Wilson have been quoted in the past saying they like the song and are flattered by the homage. Wilson wished her well on the track:

"The melody is infectious, and I'm flattered that Snoop Dogg used our lyric on the tag. I wish them well with this cut."

Love's quote, however, is a little different, and at least hints that he was thinking about this earlier (though, apparently, he now denies that this was his idea to threaten EMI/Perry):

"Initially the subject matter was so unique -- songs about surfing, great cars, being true to your school, California girls. And the subject matter is still in vogue -- just ask Katy Perry.... I think the part she did is pretty cool. There are a lot of writers on it, and I think it's probably a stroke of genius to have the king of canine cool, Mr. [Snoop] Dogg, do his thing. But I think her creative part, her musical part, is pretty hooky. I think it brings the Beach Boys' 1965 classic to mind, that's for sure."

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: beach boys, brian wilson, california girls, california gurls, copyright, fair use, katy perry, mike love, songwriting

31 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

BruceLD, 5 Aug 2010 @ 1:42pm

Subject
I see the lawyers have finally convinced the record labels that they need to pursue this legal recourse. However, what the lawyers are doing is completely self-serving; they just know they'll get paid by the corporation whether they win or lose.

In the end, the lawyers are always the winners. The corporations are too stupid to see that they are being ripped off by those that are supposed to protect their interests.

Once again, the corporation will lose end up having to pay their lawyers tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars only to achieve absolutely nothing except public shame.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
theonlyweeman, 5 Aug 2010 @ 1:51pm

As much as EMI should, they are in large amounts of debt so probably can't afford to mount a legal case, shame.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pat Crofoot, 5 Aug 2010 @ 1:54pm

Ahh crap..
So is Gy Waldron going to sue all mentions of Daisy Duke's? I hope EMI doesn't pay them so we can get a ruling of some sort.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 1:59pm

"at the very, very, very end"

Is that somehow different than just 'the end'?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joseph Durnal, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:04pm

If we are lucky
they'll get an injunction and take the song of the air!!! :) wait, that is just me tired of hearing it every 45 minutes. When I first heard it back in May or early June, I thought it was a cute tune, but it didn't make me think of the Beach Boys song at all, in fact, it took this article for me to make any connection whatsoever.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:09pm

The name of the band should change to "Beached Boys" they remind me of the poor stranded whales that get lost and end up ashore.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:11pm

Re:
Shame?

This is a win win all around no matter who looses they both deserve pain.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PaulT (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:12pm

Re: If we are lucky
One of the reasons why the mainstream recording industry is failing, IMHO - why buy the single when you hear it every damn place you in the first place?

I first noticed it in the mid 90s - I'd hear a song, think "that's pretty good, I think I'll buy it". But, no, I have to wait 4-6+ weeks before they're ready to release it. By that time, I'm sick of the damn thing and don't want to buy it any more... So, I either don't bother buying any more or just don't buy anything I can hear for free through mainstream channels.

Just one of the many ways the industry's been screwing itself over for the last couple of decades in the name of "profit".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:14pm

Question:
The Beach Boys....how are they not dead yet?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:18pm

Re: Question:
They sacrificed 13 California virgins for immortality?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
theonlyweeman, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:18pm

Re: Re: If we are lucky
Even the independent dance labels are doing it, it can take 6 months for some DJs and producewa to release their songs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:19pm

Do some more research. Mike and Brian aren't suing, they both claim to like the song, the publisher who owns the rights has made asked the writers of the new song to establish diminutive claim.

http://www.billboard.com/news/beach-boys-go-after-katy-perry-for-california-1004107849.sto ry?tag=hpfeed#/news/beach-boys-go-after-katy-perry-for-california-1004107849.story?tag=hpfeed
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike Masnick (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:24pm

Re:
Do some more research. Mike and Brian aren't suing

Didn't say they were suing. Saying they threatened to sue. If that's wrong, take it up with the NY Post who reported it.

I think the later statements to Billboard is Rondor backing down after the negative publicity. If the writers deny the diminutive claim, then what? You think they'll just go away?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PaulT (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:28pm

Re:
I love the fact that your link no only claims that The Beach Boys are directly responsible twice in the damn URL, but doesn't mention that it's Rondor taking action rather than Wilson and Love until the next-to-last paragraph. I also like the fact that you ask Mike to "do some research", but your link contradicts the one he's referring to in the original post.

Misleading journalism FTW. Maybe you should start complaining to the people spreading the inaccurate rumours rather than the people commenting on them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:29pm

Re: Re: Question:
"13 California virgins"

Impossible. There's no such thing as 13 California virgins....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:49pm

Re: Re: Re: Question:
ha
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bubba Gump (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 2:55pm

Re:
let me clear this up:

Imagine a line:
---------------------------------------------------------

Here I've marked the end of the line with the word "end":
----------------------------------------------------[end]

Here I've marked the very, very, very end of the line with X:
--------------------------------------------------------X

See?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
AdamR (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 3:01pm

Re: Re:
"Reps for the Beach Boys are threatening to sue Katy Perry after she included their classic line "I wish they all could be California Girls," in her song "California Gurls."

I just copied and pasted from the actual article, please show me where it says the Beach Boys are directly suing? Also please show where Mike says the Beach Boys are personal suing?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
C., 5 Aug 2010 @ 3:35pm

Say what???
You'd think at least one of the Beach Boys shouldn't be upset at the use of one line given the musical "history" of Surfin USA.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2010 @ 3:36pm

Re: Re:
That is very, very, very interesting. But in the end its all the same.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
River, 5 Aug 2010 @ 6:00pm

Re:
And the fun part is, you don't hear that part on the radio because of the crossfade.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 9:54pm

Re: Subject
"Once again, the corporation will lose end up having to pay their lawyers tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars only to achieve absolutely nothing except public shame."

Lets hope they keep doing this. Its in the best interest of society for them to drain money from the labels and accelerate the failure of the IP maximalist.

Does anyone know what percentage of the record labels budget is for legal?? It would be really cool to add it to my model.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 5 Aug 2010 @ 10:07pm

Re: Question:
DH - Its an L Ron Hubbard thing, they are all dead, the accountants are just keeping them on the books.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bob, 5 Aug 2010 @ 10:51pm

Beach Boys
No way I downloaded er saw the video of this song and all I thought of was The Dukes of Hazard, or more correctly, Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke from the movie.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Donna, 6 Aug 2010 @ 4:02am

Katy Perry
That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet, the Beach Boys wanting to sue Katy Perry for that song--get a life you guys
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2010 @ 4:04am

Re: Say what???
They're so burnt out, they don't even remember the "history" of Surfin' USA, and their lawyers are in it for the money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2010 @ 6:08am

Re: Re: Re:
"Reps for the Beach Boys are threatening to sue" sounds an aweful lot like it's the Beach Boys making the threats. "Reps for" is kind of a reaningless phrase, because no one expects that Love or Wilson is going to personally pen the complain or speak directly to anyone about it -- they have people to do that for them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
robphelan (profile), 6 Aug 2010 @ 9:28am

looks like they've changed their mind..
"Beach Boys not suing Katy Perry for her 'California Gurl'"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
robphelan (profile), 6 Aug 2010 @ 9:29am

link for the above
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38584940/ns/today-entertainment/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Walter Gross (profile), 8 Aug 2010 @ 12:33pm

EMI does provide embed code for their videos
No comment really on the lawsuit but I'd like to point out that if you go to KatyPerry.com you will find that there is a Brightcove video player right on the home page which offers shareable, embeddable video content. Here is the url to the video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid86420163001?bclid=82072923001&bctid=96350250001. I tried to include the embed code here as well but it keeps getting stripped out. You can grab it from the same BC player so you can revise your article.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2010 @ 5:35am

lol, washed up has beens, they are not relevant anymore have not been since the early 70's, I dont hear perrys song and think of them at all, freaking losers doing anything to get money
[ link to this | view in thread ]