Drake Claims An Owl Design Is Not Protected by Copyright

Recording artist Drake was sued for copyright infringement for replicating a 3-dimensional "owl design" necklace. While no one person could ever claim exclusive rights to an owl on a piece of jewelry, the very nature of copyright allows the same idea to be expressed in many different ways.  And, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to duplicate, or grant others the right to duplicate, their work.

Even if Drake specially ordered the Owl Necklace, if there was no written document assigning the copyright from the jewelry designer that created the design to Drake, the jewelry designer is in fact the copyright owner.   According to the lawsuit filed in August 2013, the artist that created the design is an employee of Baden Baden, Inc. and  Baden Baden, Inc. is the copyright owner. A copyright registration was issued by the U.S. Copyright office listing the jeweler's employee as the author and copyright claimant.  Currently a correction of the Copyright Registration has been filed to reflect Baden Baden, Inc. as the copyright claimant pursuant to the jewelry designer being an employe of Baden Baden.