Record Labels Sue Ellen DeGeneres Over Illegal Songs

Four of the world’s largest record labels are suing the producer of The Ellen DeGeneres Show for using songs with out permission on the popular day time talk show, according to a Reuters report.

DeGeneres, who has just been named American Idol’s fourth judge, opens her shows singing and dancing to tunes selected by her on-stage DJ. The lawsuit, filed in Nashville, said The Ellen DeGeneres Show has used more than 1,000 songs without permission and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

While DeGeneres herself is not named in the suit, her production company, A Very Good Production is. The labels said that when they asked why licenses were not obtained for use of the songs, representatives for the show said they “did not roll that way.”

“As sophisticated consumers of music, defendants knew fully well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act … they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully,” the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit was filed by Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and EMI Group.

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