Guzman v. Hacienda Records & Recording Studio, Inc.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that the fact that two Tejano songs began with the words “Yo tengo en mi poder unas cartas de amor que tu me las mandastes pidiendo compassion” failed to establish striking similarity
• explaining that our court declines “to second-guess the district court under the clearly erroneous standard of review”
• stating credibility determinations require “even ‘greater deference’” (quoting In re Luhr Bros., 157 F.3d 333, 338 (5th Cir. 1998))
• finding no similarity where “the alleged compositional similarities running between the songs in their entirety, i.e., their melodies, rhythmic patterns, lyrical themes, and instrumental accompaniment, were either common to the . . . genre or common in other songs”
• finding no similarity where “the alleged compositional similarities running between the songs in their entirety, i.e., their melodies, rhythmic patterns, lyrical themes, and instrumental accompaniment, were either common to the . . . genre or common in other songs”
• “[T]he clearly erroneous standard of review following a bench trial requires even greater deference to the trial court’s findings when they are based upon determinations of credibility.” (internal quotation marks omitted)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).