Then these guys should pay Extra Musica a whole bunch of money...unless they got permission to use Etat Majeurs like they did

@Tata Nkiadi

Dallas was one of most popular and among the longest running TV shows of the 20th century, it aired nearly all over the world during it's twenty year run so it's likely Adolphe could be passingly familar with show and that's ALL the American lawyer needs to prove. Remember, any concert footage relevant to the song can be used as evidence against you in court.

An American lawyer can establish Tata's prior knowledge of Dallas because his band sings in the style of the theme song during their Swiss concert @ 9:28 yet at no point does he nor his producer reaches out to CBS to clear the record as standard for copyright protection protocol. You can still clear your record of any licensing issues with the album out, but any profit you make from live performances or record sales could put you in legal hot water. His European tour was a long and he peformed this melody, often with his band singing in the style of Dallas theme song...sorry ndeko, he would lose in American court.

@Congomusiclover001

For them to recorded a cover of Etat Major, they recieved permission from the copyright holder of the generique through a leasing agreement (which I still believe was paid to Cyriaque Bassoka Productions).

As for the three albums Extra Musica released with JPS Production, I know Sony Music Entertainment owns the rights to their catalog.

I think Anta Ngapy Production who produced Ouragan & Etat Major for them. Because Cyriaque just released the re-issue of Etat Major somewhere in 2015 or 2017.

@Tata Nkiadi

Dallas was one of most popular and among the longest running TV shows of the 20th century, it aired nearly all over the world during it's twenty year run so it's likely Adolphe could be passingly familar with show and that's ALL the American lawyer needs to prove. Remember, any concert footage relevant to the song can be used as evidence against you in court.

An American lawyer can establish Tata's prior knowledge of Dallas because his band sings in the style of the theme song during their Swiss concert @ 9:28 yet at no point does he nor his producer reaches out to CBS to clear the record as standard for copyright protection protocol. You can still clear your record of any licensing issues with the album out, but any profit you make from live performances or record sales could put you in legal hot water. His European tour was a long and he peformed this melody, often with his band singing in the style of Dallas theme song...sorry ndeko, he would lose in American court.

I’m a composer/musician and I’ve studied American music law. I know what I’m talking about.

@Tata Nkiadi

Being a composer gives you an advantage of analyzing music sheets for similarity in structure, but once the decision goes to the jury then it's out of your hands. The metrics by which music plagerism is defined is often unclear even with comparison of sheet music, as a composer...YOU should know this.



As I've repeated before, American law favors decisions based on precedent as opposed to studying each case by strictly it's own merit. If you are really familar with American copyright law, then you should know the several similar cases that preceeded Pharrell and Katy. It shouldn't suprise you about the ruling on both.


We have professional musician absolving artist from wrongdoing using basic music theory, but still these greedy lawsuits have enough legs to freeze up artist's publishing and force the issue to trial. Best believe that if Adolphe was an American singer, he would lose and be liable to pay CBS based on previous cases.

BRUH... I'm gonna say this one last time: The songs sound NOTHING alike!  Do you think that CBS is going to waste money over a coincidental hit. if that was the case, there would be no songs. CBS wouldn't waste their time and resources over songs that few Americans know.  Now if he sampled a whole line and copied the melody verbatim, and he made a shit ton of money, there may be a case. HOWEVER, that Dallas theme song is copyrighted in France written by Frenchmen which was a common practice for a lot of American 80s TV shows broadcasted in France.  If there was a case, it would be tried in France.

Check out that Actual Dallas Theme Song



Totally different song.

Let me also piggy back on the Blurred Line song.  The only reason why Marvin Gaye's family sued is because the song made Robin Thicke, Pharrell & T.I. a lot of money and it gained a lot of airplay.  The record business is a shady greedy business.  As soon as I tasted even a piece of it, I was immediately turned off.  I had been trying to get out of my BMI contract for a while, and they wouldn't let me, so I stopped submitting songs to them and generally gave it up