Decision Report on the Issue of Copyright Infringement in Jk Wedding Dance Video

For requirements of the course

Written Analysis and Communication – I

(2012-2013)

To

Prof. Vijaya Sherry Chand

Ms. Nameeta Chandra

By

Pradosh Kumar Sahoo

&

Siddhartha Roy

Section E

Date of submission: 28th July 2012

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INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

From,

Pradosh Kumar Sahoo & Siddhartha Roy

Student Consultants,

IIM Ahmedabad

To,

Jeff Dodes

Executive Vice President of Marketing and Digital Media

Jive Label Group

Sony

Date: 21 December, 2009

Subject: Decision report on the issue of copyright infringement in JK Wedding Dance video

Sir,

I have enclosed the decision report which comprehensively analyses the problem in question, discusses the options available, analyses the criterion for evaluation and recommends the most feasible solution.

I recommend that Sony Jive takes the option of claiming the song used in the video and enter into a revenue sharing agreement with the hosts (You Tube) of the video.

Yours sincerely,

Pradosh Kumar Sahoo & Siddhartha Roy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sony’s Jive Label team has the mandate of promoting their artists. The song of one of their artists, Chris Brown has been used in JK Wedding video which has become viral. However, the video is a case of copyright infringement and the team has to take a decision on what to do in order to protect its copyright and monetisation by the makers of JK Wedding video.

The company is faced with three options of either maintaining status quo, issue a take-down notice or claim ownership of the song with YouTube & negotiate a revenue sharing agreement.

These options have been evaluated against the criteria of impact on mandate of promoting the artist, protection of copyright and monetisation, social media marketing and brand image of Sony.

The option thus recommended is to claim the ownership of song used in video with YouTube and negotiate a revenue sharing agreement.