A federal appeals court has decided that a distributor of a record album can be liable for copyright infringement even when the plaintiff has not established that the producer of that album was guilty of infringement.[1]� The court upheld the claim of the composer of two musical compositions that were included on the album without his permission.
The recording entitled “De Vuelta Al Sabor” (album) was produced by Fonovisa, a Latin music record label. Fonovisa licensed the right to distribute the album to Distribuidora Nacional de Discos Inc. (Distribuidora), which in turn licensed the right of the distribution to Distribuidora Aponte Inc. (Aponte). After defendants had commenced distribution of the album, plaintiff filed suit against Fonovisa, Distribuidora and Aponte alleging violation of its copyright under the Copyright Act and violations of the Lanham Act.
