House of Cards Complicates

          With the second season of House of Cards released, binge-watchers—including me—have delved back into the scheming, frenetic, and sometimes violent inner workings of the fictional federal government.   One big question that House of Cards quickly raises is: Are Vice President Frank Underwood’s manipulative tactics and all that follows reflective of how the government and legal system really work?

            The answer, in short, is no.  (BEWARE, spoilers are ahead.)  One of the main plotlines in season two involves wealthy American businessman Raymond Tusk funneling Chinese money through an American-based casino to influence U.S. elections.  The money goes toward PAC-funded ad campaigns that attack the Democratic administration’s candidates in the upcoming mid-term elections.

            In reality, campaign finance laws make Tusk’s job much easier.  Tusk should not have used a super PAC for the ad campaigns, but a 501(c)4 nonprofit, instead.  501(c)4s do not have to disclose their donors or anything about their spending until a year after the election on which it spent.  Tusk could have easily avoided snooping reporters and enemy Vice President Underwood’s investigations that way.  Additionally, with a nonprofit, Tusk would not have needed to create a web of Chinese donors to hide his influence; current laws would allow him to donate anonymously with no repercussions.

            Tusk also had another, less complicated option at his disposal, in the form of a shell corporation.  The 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision legalized corporate donations in politics via super PACs and/or nonprofits.  Instead of having Chinese visitors “throw away millions,” at the cooperating casino, as the show explains, the money could have gone directly toward its intended purpose.  The House of Cards method left a trail of plane tickets, casino video footage, and airport/limo company/casino employees who might be willing to talk as evidence of Tusks actions.

            While House of Cards obviously complicates things for the sake of its action-packed twists, it could be more true-to-life.  It goes against one of Frank’s iconic quotes that, “There’s no better way to overpower a trickle of doubt than with a flood of naked truth.”  But, because of House of Cards’ methods, anti-hero Frank is able to come out on top, and keep viewers coming back for more.

How Good is The Good Wife?

           Season 5, Episode 11 episode of the popular CBS legal drama The Good Wife entitled “Goliath and David,” concerns a copyright battle over a parodied song.  The legal issue was a ripped-from-the-headlines story based on the hit show Glee ripping off a cover of the song "Baby Got Back" by singer-songwriter John Coulton.

In “Goliath and David,” a quirky folk duo created a cover of a popular rap artist’s song that is then used on a television show.  The duo decides to sue the television studio, which opts to countersue because it claims that it received permission from the original rap artist to use his song, while the duo failed to get such permission.  The judge ruled that while the television show did steal the duo’s song, they were not entitled to damages because while they obtained a compulsory license for the original rap song, they did not get the appropriate derivative rights to use the lyrics.

Under U.S. copyright law, a publisher must get a compulsory license to record a song that has already been recorded and released commercially.  Additionally, a publisher must acquire a derivative work right to develop a new work that is based on an original work protected under copyright law.  A parody falls into this category.

In the real life version of this story, Glee used an arrangement of “Baby Got Back” made by Jonathan Coultron in 2005.  Coultron claimed the show never contacted him and tweeted his dissatisfaction.  The show eventually responded, saying that it was within their legal rights to use Coultron’s cover, such usage was its typical protocol for covers, and he should be happy for the publicity. 

In The Good Wife, the situation is neatly resolved in favor of the folk duo by a music analysis showing the television studio using part of the duo’s actual recording.  Coultron is looking for similar evidence of his original recording being played on Glee; without that, there is unlikely any winnable legal action that he can take.

*Photo is taken from cbs.com