Intellectual Property — copyright infringement — similarity

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The district court properly dismissed an infringement complaint for failure to adequately allege similarities between two songs, when both songs contain lyrics echoing a common saying.

“We are not persuaded that the similarities alleged by Vince P rise to the level of copyright infringement….Nietzsche’s phrase ‘what does not kill me, makes me stronger’ comes from TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS (1888). Although the fact that both songs quote from a 19th century German philosopher might, at first blush, seem to be an unusual coincidence, West correctly notes that the aphorism has been repeatedly invoked in song lyrics over the past century. Notably, an even more recent popular song—one that held the top spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart at about the same time as oral argument in this case—also shares this key feature with both West’s and Vince P’s songs. See Gary Trust, Kelly Clarkson Returns to Hot 100 Peak, The Wanted Hit Top 10, BILLBOARD, available at http://www.billboard.com/#/news/kelly-clarkson-returns-to-hot-100-peak-the-1006316152.story (last visited July 13, 2012) (discussing Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), performed by Kelly Clarkson). The ubiquity of this common saying, together with its repeated use in other songs, suggests that West’s title and lyric do not infringe on Vince P’s song.”

Affirmed.

11-1708 Peters v. West, et al

Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Kendall, J., Wood, J.

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