Copyright infringement by McDonald's through advertising jingle?

The composer of the melody of the McDonald's advertising jingle "I'm lovin' it" sued the global corporation for copyright damages because the corporation had not released his composition for publication, but McDonald's published it worldwide.

The composer was commissioned by an advertising agency in April 2003 to participate in the creation of an advertising jingle for McDonald's. The songwriter composed a RAP song, which contained the world-renowned advertising melody "I'm lovin' it". The composer subsequently created a hip-hop music layout for McDonald's, expressly pointing out that the resulting recordings were not to be released for publication. For his composition, the composer received € 1,500.00 and two bottles of champagne.

Subsequently, the plaintiff's composition was slightly modified. This resulted in the world-renowned advertising melody "I'm lovin' it". The composer then sued McDonald's for damages and disclosure. McDonald's dismissed the action on the grounds that the "melody sequence" created was not a protectable work within the meaning of copyright law, so that any claims were excluded.

Court decision
The judges of the 21st Civil Chamber decided withJudgment of 18.08.2010 – Az. 21 O 177/09in favour of the global corporation. The Chamber was of the view that the "melody" to which the text "McDonald's – Ich liebe es" is rapped in the composer's production does not constitute a personal intellectual creation within the meaning of copyright law. The short melody sequence lacked the required creative quality. The melody in dispute consisted merely of a third and a second and was therefore too simple to achieve the required copyright creative standard.

Conclusion

Although musical works generally enjoy copyright protection, this cannot always be concluded for excerpts from these. In the present case, the Regional Court Munich I (LG München I) was of the opinion that the excerpt used by McDonald's for the advertising jingle "I'm lovin' it" does not enjoy copyright protection due to its brevity. In such cases, only a different contractual agreement would have protected the composer from free use by the fast food chain.