Catfish Documentary Sparks Fair Use Battle

Ever since Catfish premiered at Sundance in January, the documentary has engendered controversy. Made for just $30,000, it grossed more than $3 million and has left audiences scrambling to figure out whether the amazing story being told is just an elaborate hoax.

We might get an answer to that question, thanks to a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against distributors Universal and Relativity Media, as well as the directors and producers of the film. The lawsuit filed by Threshold Media seeks statutory damages and profits from the defendants and an injunction.

In one of the crucial scenes of Catfish, Angela-posing-as-Megan sends Nev a song that she claims to be hers. It wasn’t, of course. In truth, it was a YouTube version of the song All Downhill From Here by singer-songwriter Amy Kuney, who is signed to Spin Move Records, owned by Threshold Media Corp. Later in the film, during the closing credits, Kuney's entire song is again played.

At first, Spin Move seemed proud of Kuney’s quasi-involvement in the film, touting it on its website. But the record label soon removed the post.

For some time now, Threshold has been attempting to get filmmakers to pay licensing fees for the song. According to the new copyright infringement lawsuit, the producers have rejected doing so. According to Threshold’s LA lawyer, Neville Johnson, the producers claimed that since the song was part of a real-life documentary, it was a “fair use” of the copyright. More.