NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A Louisiana judge has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against Kid Rock and three co-defendants by a New Orleans musician.
Filed by Troy Landry in 2004, the lawsuit claimed Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, John Travis and Kenny Olson copied portions of two of Landry's songs when they wrote the hit "Somebody's Gotta Feel This."
Louisiana's U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon dismissed Landry's lawsuit in its entirety Thursday in large part because the plaintiff presented no evidence to contradict the defendants' assertions that they had not heard Landry's music and they independently penned the song in 1997, the law firm of Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, which represents Kid Rock, said in a statement.
Judge Lemmon also found Landry failed to meet the "access" requirement of a copyright case and concluded the works are not so similar as to preclude independent creation.
Kid Rock's personal attorney, Michael Novak, said in a statement: "(The case) was utterly meritless. Unfortunately, the way our justice system works, anybody can sue anyone for any reason, and successful artists tend to attract these groundless claims. But we are elated the system worked here. Justice is served."
