Pants on the Ground: Lawsuit and copyright concerns explained

January 22, 2010 By 3 Comments

General Larry Platt’s “Pants on the Ground” for season 9 of “American Idol,” is definitely going to be one of the unforgettable ones for an extremely long time. The amateur song has become a huge hit all over the world since it first showed over a week ago.

But the interesting question now, is whether General Larry Platt deserves to get any royalties for the success of the song. And Chris Tritico, legal analyst for FOX 26, took time to explain a few things such as copyright concerns, while speaking on FOX 26 Morning News.

Pants on the Ground: Lawsuit and copyright concerns explained

According to myfoxhouston.com, General Larry Platt thinks that he does deserve royalties for the success of his “Pants on the Ground” song. But Chris says that the people posting on YouTube aren’t profiting from his song, so there’s no profits for Platt to recoup.

He also went on to say that the people who post their versions of “Pants on the Ground” are not in violation of copyright laws. Chris says that General Larry Platt should have really copyrighted this song, before he went on the show to audition.

Chris said his advice to Platt, would be to get himself a lawyer and get someone to help him so that he can profit from the song. Although he did say that he thinks that “Pants on the Ground” has reached as high as it can go now, and will only be popular for a short time.

Do you think we’ll be hearing it for a long time?

Watch the video below this post, for more on this story.

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  • What

    His song was coyrighted the minute he wrote it. From the U.S. Copyright Office:

    When is my work protected?

    Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

    Do I have to register with your office to be protected?

    No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration

  • steve

    Well, it seems a little silly that he wants a profit. A profit for what? It’s not really a song, is it? Anyone can talk. There’s no melody for which to claim ownership. This morning, I said to my wife “I need some brown sugar for my Quaker Oats.” I hope no one says that. I may have to recover damages

  • Love2Know

    Heyyyyy@Steve! Don't be surprised. Some of the biggest hits came from STUPID (every day) random thoughts. Remember these ((hit)) songs…? Devo's "Whip It Good" (who writes a song about BREAKING their momma's back?!?), Elton Johns "Yellow Brick Road," Randy Newman's "Short People" (got NO REASON to live?) and countless other songs. Heck, so many songs were written about drug use, Jimmy Hendrix's "Purple Haze" that you wonder why so many kids ended up ON drugs, since it seemed like the "IN" cool and FUN thing to do!