Press Release

Holidays Come Early For Songwriters and Music Publishers As X-Rated Christmas Songs Are Pulled From the Market.
NEW YORK, December 22, 2000 -- Party On Parody Productions, Ltd., distributor of the pornographic Christmas music album known as "Rated X Mas," has agreed to settle a copyright infringement action brought by the songwriters and music publishers of such classic Christmas favorites as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Winter Wonderland," and "Frosty the Snowman." The terms of the settlement include: the payment by the defendants of undisclosed monetary damages to each of the copyright owners; the destruction of all remaining inventory in the chain of distribution; the entry of an injunction by District Judge William Pauley barring all future sales or distribution of the album, and; the assignment of copyrights in defendants' versions of plaintiffs' songs appearing on the album to the respective copyright owners.

The defendants have also made the following statement: "Party On Parody Productions recognizes that it would have been far more prudent not to have used the songs in question without the permission of the copyright owners. We regret the actions that led to this lawsuit, and would certainly advise anyone contemplating the unauthorized use of another's copyrighted works not to act as we did."

"This was an action that the copyright owners believe needed to be brought in order to clarify the limits of the fair use defense, because the defendant's unauthorized uses fell so unambiguously outside of the parameters of the fair use doctrine" said Edward P. Murphy, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. ("NMPA"), which supported the litigation. "This action involved a defendant that took entire, popular songs belonging to others, simply substituted lyrics -- in this case blatantly pornographic ones -- for the originals, and sold thousands of copies for profit through the Internet and in retail outlets. That's called copyright infringement."

The plaintiffs claimed, in part, that the Party On product threatened to harm the value of the underlying works by associating them with the defendant's pornographic uses. "In cases such as this, the potential harm to the value of the copyrighted song weighs heavily against a claim of fair use," said Charles J. Sanders, Counsel to NMPA. "If the defendants want to compose songs about bestiality and sodomy, they are certainly free to do so on their own. But they cannot commandeer the famous works of others in this manner and call it a permissible taking under the Copyright Act. Such actions are not and have never been considered by any court to constitute fair use."

The plaintiffs in the action, Gillespie, et al. v. Gordon (SDNY) included Haven Gillespie Music Publishing Company, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., WB Music Corp., Jewel Music Publishing Company, Inc. and St. Nicholas Music, Inc. They were represented by Attorneys Carey R. Ramos and Lynn B. Bayard of the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. The infringed works were Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, written and composed by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots; Frosty the Snowman, written and composed by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins; Jingle Bell Rock, written and composed by Joe Beal and Jim Boothe; Winter Wonderland, written and composed by Dick Smith and Felix Bernard; I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, written and composed by Tommie Connor; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, written and composed by Johnny Marks; and A Holly, Jolly Christmas, written and composed by Johnny Marks.

The National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., founded in 1917, works to protect and advance the interests of the music publishing industry. With over 800 members, NMPA represents the most important and influential music publishing firms throughout the United States. Established in 1927, The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., the licensing subsidiary of NMPA, provides an information source, clearing house and monitoring service for a large percentage of music manufactured, distributed, and transmitted electronically in the United States and around the world. HFA represents more than 26,000 music publisher principals, which in turn represent the interests of more than 150,000 songwriters.