Jaze Cinema Sues Video Game Musical Artist Charlie Green for DMCA Violation
Defendant Charlie Green knowingly and willingly breached a licensing agreement by asserting a copyright claim to a musical composition he didn’t own, said a copyright infringement complaint Friday (docket 7:24-cv-00256) brought by Jaze Ltd. in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains.
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Jaze Ltd. is the U.K.-based holding company for Jaze Cinema and Managing Director James Eagleton's YouTube channels and intellectual property, the complaint said. Singer-songwriter Green, who creates music for video games, also goes by the name CG5.
Jaze Cinema's animated video games, Five Nights at Freddy’s, use content from animators and musicians under licensing agreements, in which licensors make representations and warranties that they have the authority to grant rights and that content they license doesn’t infringe copyrights of third parties, said the complaint.
Jaze has licensed musical works from Green since 2017, including the one at issue, “I Got No Time,” for use in the video “FNAP Song: “I Got No Time,” which appeared on YouTube, the complaint said. A third-party subsequently asserted a claim to YouTube that the "FNAP Song" video improperly contained its copyrighted content that Jaze didn’t properly license, the complaint said.
On Oct. 13, Jaze was informed that a Digital Millennial Copyright Act takedown request was submitted to YouTube by musical performers The Living Tombstone, who own the copyright to the underlying composition used in the allegedly infringing video, the complaint said. YouTube withheld all the revenue earned from the YouTube video that used the song and refused to pay Jaze, it said. Jaze Cinema claims 3.8 billion lifetime views and 11 million subscribers to its YouTube channel.
When Jaze informed Green he received a copyright claim for the YouTube video, the defendant informed Jaze, “contrary to the representation set forth” in the licensing agreement, that he didn’t own the underlying copyright to the song or the right to license it and that Jaze would have to seek an additional license from the actual copyright owner, the complaint said. Green’s agent, Angie Green, told Jaze he got a license from Green to use the remix of the song but not a license from The Living Tombstone for the original, it said.
This position, asserted by Angie Green and later by the defendant, “directly contradicts Defendant’s representations and warranties” contained in the licensing contract, the complaint said. Each of the warranties and representations in the agreement was not owned or properly licensed by Green, and he “had no legal right to sublicense” the song owned by The Living Tombstone, it said.
Green “knowingly and willfully breached” the licensing agreement and committed fraud on Jaze to his “severe” detriment, the complaint said. As a result of the fraud, Jaze lost the costs of the licensing fee, the YouTube revenue associated with 53.9 million YouTube views and associated legal costs, the complaint said.
Jaze is demanding compensation for the loss of the “ill-gotten licensing fee” paid to Green, the lost revenue associated with claimed views, which the plaintiff alleges to be at least $200,000, and “irreparable damage” to his channel and Jaze’s business relationship with YouTube, said the complaint.
The plaintiff asserts claims of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation of contract, unjust enrichment and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, said the complaint. Jaze seeks compensatory and punitive damages, legal costs and prejudgment interest. Green didn't comment Tuesday.