In the dispute over the use of the McDonald's advertising melody "Ich liebe es" (I love it), the 21st Civil Chamber of the Munich I Regional Court dismissed the composer's claim.
In April 2003, the plaintiff was commissioned by an advertising agency to participate in the creation of an advertising jingle for McDonald's. The plaintiff handed over his composition on a CD to the advertising agency. The plaintiff handed over his composition to the advertising agency on a CD and received a sum of 1500 € and two bottles of champagne in return. However, the champagne bliss was followed by disillusionment: Because he had not released the worldwide known "advertising melody" McDonald's - Ich liebe es" (I love it), which was based on him, for publication, the composer sued McDonald's for information about the use of the melody and a claim for damages. The defendant, on the other hand, did not want to know of any copyright infringement: It was almost impossible for the average listener to pick out a sequence of notes from the rap created by the plaintiff. Moreover, not a single note of the plaintiff's composition was identical to its audio logo. Moreover, the action had to be dismissed because the "melody sequence", if any, created by the plaintiff did not constitute a work worthy of protection under copyright law.
The judges of the 21st Civil Chamber followed this line of argument. The judgement states: "The Chamber, which is able to judge this on the basis of its general musical education without consulting an expert, is... of the opinion that the "melody" to which the "text" McDonald's "I love it" is rapped in the plaintiff's production does not constitute a personal intellectual creation within the meaning of Section 2 (1) No. 2 UrhG because it lacks the level of creation required for this.... Both melody sequences to which the "text" "Ich liebe es" is rapped in the plaintiff's composition are... so much predetermined by the natural speech duct that they do not have the required level of creation. As for the three notes to which the "text part" "McDonald's" is rapped in the plaintiff's composition, since it consists of only a third and a second, it is too simple to reach the required height".
Judgment of the Regional Court of Munich I, file number 21 O 177/09
Source: Press release of the Munich Regional Court I
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
E-mail: Info@goldberg.de
