Billboard Hot 100: 02/16/2019

[Gary]

Hot Gospel Songs

This Week Last Week Two Weeks Ago Weeks Title, Artist Peak
1 1 – 2 #1 2 wks Love Theory , Kirk Franklin 1
2 2 1 24 Never Alone , Tori Kelly Featuring Kirk Franklin 1
3 11 – 8 You Know My Name (Live) , Tasha Cobbs Leonard 3
4 3 2 74 Won't He Do It , Koryn Hawthorne 1
5 4 – 2 This Is A Move , Tasha Cobbs Leonard 4
6 6 5 43 Nobody Like You Lord , Maranda Curtis 5
7 7 7 42 No Ordinary Worship , Kelontae Gavin 7
8 5 3 28 Forever , Jason Nelson 2
9 8 8 21 It's Yours , Jekalyn Carr 8
10 9 6 47 A Great Work , Brian Courtney Wilson 3
11 12 9 15 Victory , Fred Jerkins Featuring Last Call 9
12 19 17 4 Unstoppable , Koryn Hawthorne 12
13 13 11 20 All Of My Life , Erica Campbell X Warryn Campbell 3
14 14 10 8 War Cry , Queen Naija 1
15 15 13 17 Pour Your Oil , Joshua Rogers 13
16 23 21 5 Deliver Me (This Is My Exodus) , Donald Lawrence Presents The Tri-City Singers Featuring Le'Andria Johnson 16
17 17 12 6 My God , Nashville Life Music Featuring Mr. Talkbox 12
18 16 14 12 Potter , Tamela Mann 14
19 20 16 11 Open The Floodgates , Demetrius West & Jesus Promoters Featuring Karen Hoskins 15
20 18 20 5 Laughter (Just Like A Medicine) , BeBe Winans 18
21 21 15 9 Open Your Mouth And Say Something , Brent Jones 15
22 22 18 7 Promises , Jason McGee + The Choir Featuring Lena Byrd Miles 18
23 0 New 1 Make Room , Jonathan McReynolds 23
24 24 19 14 I Agree , Jonathan Nelson 18
25 25 23 9 I'm Ready , G.I. 23

[Gary]

Smooth Jazz

This Week Last Week Two Weeks Ago Weeks Title, Artist Peak
1 1 1 14 #1 3 wks Backyard Brew , The JT Project Featuring Najee 1
2 3 7 11 Rise! , Ben Tankard 2
3 6 10 15 Top Down , Greg Manning 3
4 2 2 16 4 On The Floor , Gerald Albright 2
5 7 9 20 Port Boulevard , Jazz Holdouts 5
6 4 5 24 Skip To My Lew , Walter Beasley 4
7 5 3 17 Snap, Crackle, Pop , Vincent Ingala 1
8 8 8 24 Submarine , Bob James 4
9 9 4 20 Sweet Spot , Jeff Ryan 3
10 10 13 11 Deja Vu , Michael Lington 9
11 11 16 13 See You At The Get Down , Ragan Whiteside Featuring Bob Baldwin & The PR Experience 11
12 16 17 8 Brio Bounce , Phil Denny 12
13 22 – 2 How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) , Nick Colionne 13
14 26 28 3 Infinite Soul , Will Donato 14
15 13 14 5 The B Spot , Byron Miller Featuring Walter Beasley 13
16 15 19 9 Kicks , Boney James 15
17 24 25 3 Homebrew , Patrick Lamb 17
18 25 23 4 Intangible , Patrick Bradley 18
19 18 11 18 The Only Woman In The World , The Braxton Brothers 9
20 20 18 15 Natural , Cindy Bradley 11
21 21 21 12 A Love Before , Lindsey Webster 21
22 27 24 3 Femme Flight , Carol Albert Featuring Ragan Whiteside & Magdalena Chovancova 22
23 17 15 16 Understanding , Marcus Anderson Featuring Brian Culbertson 13
24 0 Hot Shot Debut 1 Good To Go , John Novello Featuring Eric Marienthal 24
25 28 – 2 Windfall , Jazz Funk Soul 25
26 23 22 9 Waiting For Your Love , David Garfield Featuring David Paich, Greg Phillinganes & Joseph Williams 22
27 29 30 4 Looking For Sade , Peabo Bryson Featuring Boney James 27
28 0 New 1 Chill AF , Vandell Andrew 28
29 0 New 1 Thicker Than Water , Brian Bromberg 29
30 0 New 1 Moxified , Darren Rahn 30

[Gary]

Fortnite' Publisher Urges Dismissal of Rapper's Lawsuit: 'No One Can Own a Dance Step'

NewsLegal and Management

By Eriq Gardner | February 12, 2019 11:48 AM EST
Fortnite Battle Royale



A flurry of lawsuits over allegedly wiped dance routines in the blockbuster game Fortnite generated a lot of discussion about intellectual property. On Monday, moving for dismissal in the complaint brought by Terrence "2 Milly" Ferguson, Epic Games had a message for a California federal court.

"Plaintiff's lawsuit is fundamentally at odds with free speech principles as it attempts to impose liability, ad thereby chill creative expression, by claiming rights that do not exist under the law," wrote Dale Cendali, attorney for Epic. "No one can own a dance step. Copyright law is clear that individual dance steps and simple dance routines are not protected by copyright, but rather are building blocks of free expression, which are in the public domain for choreographers, dancers, and the general public to use, perform, and enjoy."

2 Milly was the first to sue. Alleging his dance step known as "Swipe It" was misappropriated through a special feature that allows Fortnite players to emote his moves, he'd be followed by others with claims including Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro.

Since 2 Milly filed first, he's also the one to step up now and face Epic Games' argument that no one can hold a monopoly on a swinging arm movement. Although copyright law allows choreography to be protected, Epic seizes upon Copyright Office guidance that "simple routines" are not copyrightable or eligible for registration.

"Also, copyright does not protect mere ideas and concepts, which are free for all to use, but rather only the expression of those ideas," continues the dismissal brief. "he Dance Step is just such an unprotectable idea as Ninth Circuit courts have held in similar situations involving movements, choreography, and poses. As the Dance Step is not protectable, there is nothing to compare to Fortnite, and the works necessarily are not substantially similar."

Even putting that aside, Cendali sees too much difference.

"As shown by the accompanying video clip, the Dance Step consists of a side step to the right while swinging the left arm horizontally across the chest to the right, and then reversing the same movement on the other side," she writes. "By contrast, as shown in 26 another video clip, Swipe It consists of (1) varying arm movements, sometimes using a straight, horizontal arc across the chest, and other times starting below the hips and then traveling in a diagonal arc across the body, up to the shoulder, while pivoting side to side on the balls and heels of the feet, (2) a wind up of the right arm before swiping, and (3) a rolling motion of the hands and forearms between swipes."

Employing California's SLAPP statute, intended to deter lawsuits impinging First Amendment activity on matters of public interest, Epic Games seeks to shift the burden of proving a likelihood of success in this case to 2 Milly.

Not to be ignored, the plaintiff is also asserting a violation of the right of publicity, meaning protection of one's likeness.

Epic Games asserts that such a claim is preempted by copyright law, and even if not, under the Rogers test, because the emote is artistically relevant to Fortnite, 2 Milly's claim fails without any showing of expressly misleading conduct. The Rogers test derives from Rogers v Grimaldi, a 1989 decision concerning a lawsuit brought by the actress (and pretty good dancer) Ginger Rogers over the Fellini film Ginger and Fred.

"Plaintiff has made no allegations that Epic Games’ use of his 'likeness' goes beyond Swipe It," the dismissal motion adds. "Critically, Swipe It can be used with any Fortnite character, none of which Plaintiff alleges share similar physical characteristics to him. And Plaintiff has not asserted that he has appeared in a similar setting to Fortnite, namely he has not fought in a battle royale using weapons to kill opponents. These additional elements make the Swipe It emote a transformative use."

Here's the full brief, the starting point on a new discussion about many of the moves made in intellectual property in the past few decades.