Faith No More v. Manifesto Records CA2/5
This is an appeal from the denial of an anti-SLAPP motion, one in which a question of copyright preemption figures prominently. As often happens it seems, a dispute arose between the members of a musical band. The dispute was resolved via a settlement agreement between one of the members of the band that left the group, Charles Mosley (Mosley), and the other remaining band members. As part of the settlement, Mosley agreed to relinquish any interest in the band’s name and assets. Years later, Mosley signed a contract with the lawyer who represented him in settling the earlier dispute, Evan Cohen (Cohen). In that contract, Manifesto Records, Inc. (Manifesto), a company controlled by Cohen, paid Mosley to assign Manifesto his ostensible rights in one of the band’s albums. When the other members of the band learned of that assignment, because they discovered Manifesto was selling the album without their knowledge, they sued Manifesto and Cohen (collectively “defendants”) for
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