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Former Blue Notes Member Loses Suit Over DVD of Soul Train Performances
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found no right of publicity violation in the inclusion, on a Best of Soul Train DVD, of TV performances of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes that included band-member/plaintiff Jeremiah Cummings. Cummings v. Soul Train Holdings LLC, 14 Civ. 36. Cummings was a member of the r&b group in the 1970s. He claimed in his lawsuit he hadn't signed any release form when he appeared on the Soul Train TV show with the Blue Notes. Looking at Illinois-resident Cummings' claim under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act (IRPA), New York federal District Judge Lorna G. Schofield noted: 'The recordings 'portray' a 'live performance' or 'musical work performed by Cummings as a member of the Blue Notes, and the Soul Train footage does not itself constitute commercial advertisement' that would violate the IRPA. Judge Schofield added that Cummings' Soul Train performances had been ”fixed in tangible form,' and his 'rights of publicity' are therefore preempted' by federal copyright law. The district court went on to dismiss Cummings' additional causes of action, including one alleging violation of the federal Lanham Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
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