Richard S. Busch

Richard S. Busch is a Partner in the Litigation Section and is Head of the Entertainment and Intellectual Property Sections of King & Ballow. His practice areas include Litigation (State and Federal), Entertainment Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Commercial Litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Busch served as Law Clerk to the Honorable John V. Parker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Mr. Busch received his law degree from Loyola University Law School where he was a member of the Loyola University Law Review and the Moot Court Board, serving as Spring National Team Coach. In addition, Mr. Busch received the American Jurisprudence Award for Secured Transactions and the Fishman Award as the outstanding commercial law student.

Mr. Busch has successfully represented clients in numerous trial and appellate court cases. In the action styled F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records, et al., Mr. Busch represented the Plaintiff, who discovered, produced, and co-wrote some of recording artist Eminem’s biggest hits, in the landmark case, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit entered judgment in favor of F.B.T., finding that the agreements between record label Universal and digital download providers like iTunes, are licenses, and Eminem’s recording agreement entitled him and F.B.T. to 50 percent of Universal’s net receipts for sales by iTunes and others of Eminem songs. The full decision may be found at 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 18450 (9th Cir. Sept. 3, 2010). Mr. Busch has represented many other artists in similar lawsuits and in connection with similar claims.

Mr. Busch also represented Eminem’s music publisher, Eight Mile Style in a copyright infringement action against Apple, Inc. and Aftermath Records in a trial involving whether Apple obtained the necessary publishing licenses allowing it to make Eminem songs available for digital download on iTunes. The trial settled after nearly a week of testimony.

Mr. Busch also represented Bridgeport Music, Inc. and Westbound Records, Inc. in a copyright infringement action against Bad Boy Records, the record label owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Universal Music in a trial that resulted in a $4.4 million jury award in favor of Bridgeport Music and Westbound, including a finding of willful copyright infringement against the Defendants, all arising from the "sampling" in the Notorious B.I.G. song Ready To Die. Mr. Busch also represented Bridgeport Music in a copyright infringement trial against Universal Music involving the unlawful copying of portions of the Bridgeport Music's song Atomic Dog. The jury returned a finding of willful copyright infringement against the Defendants in that action as well. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit later affirmed the decision, finding that copyright infringement may occur by the copying of a single common word such as "dog," if the alleged infringer uses that word in the new composition in the same way as it was used in the original musical composition. The Sixth Circuit also found that Universal Music committed willful copyright infringement when it copied the signature phrase from Atomic Dog without permission, rejecting Universal Music's Fair Use, and De Minimis defenses. The full decision may be found at Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. UMG Recordings, Inc., 585 F.3d 267 (6th Cir. 2009). Billboard Magazine identified this decision as one of the five most important judicial decisions of 2009, and noted that it will change the way the music industry operates.

Mr. Busch was also Lead Counsel in the action entitled Bridgeport Music, Inc., et al. v. Dimension Films, et. al., 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 18810; 2004 FED App. 0297P (6th Cir.), where he successfully argued and obtained the landmark ruling by the United States Court of Appeals that there is no de minimis defense in a copyright infringement action to sampling or copying of a sound recording.

In the Fall of 2012, Mr. Busch obtained a federal court jury verdict in favor of his client, Alvert Music, for more than $2 million, together with a finding of willful copyright infringement, against the Defendant record company, in a case involving an interplay of bankruptcy and copyright issues.

Mr. Busch obtained a jury award of $7.4 million in favor of the heirs of Marvin Gaye against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke arising out of the unlawful copying of Marvin Gaye's classic hit Got to Give It Up in the song Blurred Lines.

Most recently, Mr. Busch obtained an arbitration award of $5.8 million in favor of fitness personality Jillian Michaels in a case against Lions Gate for the unauthorized placement of Ms. Michaels’ fitness videos on YouTube in violation of the distribution agreement between the parties.

In addition to copyright, intellectual property, and entertainment litigation, Mr. Busch has successfully represented numerous clients in Federal Court in commercial litigation cases across the country. Mr. Busch served as Lead Counsel in a bad faith insurance action against Travelers’ Insurance Company in the Northern District of California, in which the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Busch's client, and against Travelers’ Insurance Company, including a punitive damage award of more than $4 million. Mr. Busch also obtained a punitive damage award in favor of his client in a malicious breach of contract action tried in Federal Court in the Northern District of Ohio. Mr. Busch also represented Tribune Company in a 600 defendant civil racketeering action in the Southern District of New York in which the defendants were accused of conspiring to file fraudulent workers' compensation claims. That case was settled prior to trial.

Mr. Busch also secured summary judgment and a 9th Circuit affirmance in favor of his client Robert “Shep” Pettibone who wrote Madonna’s iconic hit song “Vogue,” and who was sued along with Madonna and their music publishers for copyright infringement. The Ninth Circuit decision affirming dismissal of that action can be found here. Thereafter, Mr. Pettibone’s publisher, Warner/Chappell, claimed that he was required to indemnify them for their legal costs related to defending the action, and kept Mr. Pettibone’s royalties of nearly $1 million to reimburse itself for those legal costs. Mr. Busch secured a Second Circuit Court of Appeals judgment in favor of Mr. Pettibone finding that Warner/Chappell breached its contract with Mr. Pettibone by keeping those royalties, and ordering Warner/Chappell to release those royalties to Mr. Pettibone with interest. The link to that decision may be found here.

Click the links below to read articles discussing that decision:
The Hollywood Reporter
Digital Music News

Mr. Busch is currently representing numerous music publishers, owning thousands of musical compositions, in litigation against Spotify, Inc., alleging that Spotify made their songs available on Spotify without securing the necessary mechanical licenses, and alleging that Spotify committed willful copyright infringement by doing so. Mr. Busch’s clients in that litigation include Bob Gaudio (Four Seasons, Jersey Boys), BlueWater Music Publishing, the Songwriter’s Guild of America, and Thomas Dolby.

Please click the links below to read press reports about these cases:
Digital Music News
The Hollywood Reporter

Click the links below to read articles discussing this litigation:
Tennessean
Law 360
Fox17