Joshua Weigensberg

In a decision issued on December 21, 2016, a California federal judge dismissed a copyright infringement suit brought against Pryor Cashman clients Bruno Mars and Atlantic Records concerning Mars’s #1 hit single “Grenade.” 

The failed lawsuit was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Johnathon Puckett, a songwriter who claimed that Mars and Atlantic Records copied certain themes and lyrics from his original song “Cry” when creating “Grenade.” Specifically, Puckett alleged that the two songs shared the same theme – a singer willing to give anything to the person he loves, despite his love being unrequited –  and contained similar lyrics in their choruses.

In their motion to dismiss Puckett’s action, Mars and Atlantic Records argued, among other things, that the two songs were so dissimilar that the Court should find as a matter of law that no copyright infringement occurred.

The District Court agreed, ruling that aside from two short lines which were vaguely similar, “none of the other lyrics or expressions in the two works share even a passing similarity with each other, and the Plaintiff is not able to point to any other instances in which ‘Grenade’ can be said to have copied the expressive content of ‘Cry.’”

Moreover, the Court held that the two vaguely similar lines of the songs were “common phrases that do not possess the requisite originality to be copyrightable.” 

As such, because Puckett failed to sufficiently plead that “Grenade’s” lyrics were substantially similar to “Cry’s,” the matter was dismissed with prejudice. 

The full decision can be viewed here. The case is Johnathon Puckett v. Peter Gene Hernandez; Atlantic Records, 2:16-cv-02199-SVW-AGR. 

The Pryor Cashman Team

Bruno Mars and Atlantic Records were represented by Partners Ilene S. Farkas and Brad D. Rose, along with Associate Joshua Weigensberg, all members of the firm’s Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Media & Entertainment Groups.