26MLK Speeches
The reason the film Selma (2014) didn’t use MLK’s actual speeches was that Steven Spielberg got the sole film rights to all of MLK’s speeches in 2009. Ava DuVernay wrote speeches that were plausible, but different enough to avoid a copyright battle.
27. The USPS mistook a Las Vegas replica for the real Statue of Liberty when creating the Lady Liberty “forever” stamp in 2010, resulting in a $3.5 million payout to the replica’s sculptor for violating his copyright.
28. Woodie Guthrie’s copyright claim to “This Land is Your Land” was for 28 years and he stated, “anybody caught singing it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern.” Today multiple organizations claim copyright for the song.
29. In 1990, Rick James sued MC Hammer for copyright when Hammer sampled his song “Super Freak” in Hammer’s hit “Can’t Touch This” without permission. They agreed to settle out of court and Hammer credited James as a co-composer. James won his first and only Grammy from “Can’t Touch This.”
30. The copyright battle between the owners of Hello Kitty and Miffy ended after the Japanese Tsunami when their copyright owners agreed to immediately settle the case and donate their anticipated legal fees to the Tsunami Relief Effort.
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31Getty Images Lawsuits
Getty Images has repeatedly been caught selling the rights for photographs it doesn't own, including public domain images. In one incident, they demanded money for copyright infringement from a famous photographer when she used one of her own pictures.
32. In 1982, Universal Studios sued Nintendo on the grounds that Donkey Kong was an exact copy of Universal owned King Kong. In fact, up until that point, Universal sued anyone who tried to use King Kong. Nintendo then counter-sued by presenting findings of an earlier lawsuit where Universal themselves fought to defend the position that King Kong was in the public domain for making the movie King Kong (1976). Nintendo won $1.8 million.
33. The people who falsely claimed the copyright on the song “Happy Birthday to You” made $2 million a year for decades until a court ruled the song to be in the public domain in 2016.
34. The Library of Congress in the US has the unadulterated 35mm print of “Star Wars” submitted to them in 1977 for copyright, and anyone can watch it by prior appointment.
35. Family Guy once used footage from a 9-year-old YouTube video in one of its episodes without permission from the owner. The owner’s original clip was then removed from Youtube for copyright infringement.
