March 22, 2023 Dinner Meeting and Team Presentation

President Hon. Jennifer “Jen” Gerard began the meeting by welcoming all Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court (Deegan Inn) members to the meeting, which was held indoors at the Canyon Crest Country Club. Judge Gerard announced that the Board was accepting nominations for the Outstanding Jurist Award, Outstanding Attorney Award, and Biddle Book Award. Prior winners can be found on our website.

After the announcements, Judge Gerard introduced Judge Mona Nemat of Team Sign “O” The Times. The team members are Hon. Mona Nemat (Judicial Master), Sophia Choi (Barrister), Gregory Rollins (Barrister), Gabriel White (Barrister), Goushia Farook (Associate), Matthew Forsse (Associate), Danielle Linker (Associate), Jeremy Roark (Associate), and Xinia Williams (Associate). One team member was absent due to illness.

Each team member introduced themselves and provided a fun fact about themselves and music. The theme for the presentation is Copyright Law. The presentation began with a discussion of Elvis Presley and the song “Don’t Be Cruel.”

Mr. Blackwell sold this song and five others to a company for $150. As the Inn members listened, it became obvious that Elvis Presley drew a lot of inspiration from Mr. Blackwell.

Inn members learned that Elvis Presley required publishing rights to songs he would record, even if he did not write them.

FUN FACT (not discussed within the presentation): The same request was made of Dolly Parton for her song “I Will Always Love You.”

Judge Nemat then began the game show “Family Feud.”

Teams were pitted against each other and the winning team would receive Starbucks gift cards. The first two challengers were Team Dolly Parton (Community Service Team) versus Team The Influencers. They were asked questions about Elvis Presley, his music, and his movies. Team The Influencers proved victorious in this round.

The next set of challengers were Team Britney Spears versus Team Etta James. The teams were asked questions about famous rap stars who became actors and music sharing sites. After two rounds, Team Etta James proved victorious.

Team Sign “O” The Times discussed music sampling and the high cost of using another artist’s copyrighted music.

Family Feud resumed with the final two teams participating. Team Dolly Parton competed again because they had the least amount of team members present for the dinner meeting and presentation. It was Team Dolly Parton vs. Team Queen. After two rounds of questions, which dealt with Taylor Swift, Team Dolly Parton emerged victorious.

The team discussed Taylor Swift and her recent legal troubles. The publisher of the 3LW song “Players Gonna Play” sued Ms. Swift for copyright infringement, claiming that Ms. Swift’s song “Shake It Off” was a copy of his song. Here are the two songs for you to decide:

3LW vs. Taylor Swift

The team discussed Prince, the artist behind Sign “O'“ the Times” and the final round of Family Feud was set up. Scores were tallied and the two teams who would competing in the final round of “Fast Money” were Team The Influencers and Team Etta James.

After both teams competed, the final winner emerged and Team The Influencers were declared the winners!

At the conclusion of the presentation, Deegan Inn members were invited to score the presentation from a ranking of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The team and winning presentation will be announced at the September 2023 Orientation Meeting.