SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A divided federal appeals court has cleared Madonna of allegations she violated copyright law by using part of another song in her 1990 hit, “Vogue.”
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Thursday that the horn segment the singer was accused of stealing would be unrecognizable to the average listener of “Vogue” because it is very short, occurs only a few times in the Madonna song and was modified for it.
The decision upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit against Madonna by VMG Salsoul on the grounds that the alleged copying was trivial. VMG Salsoul said it owned the copyright to the song “Love Break” from which Madonna stole the horn segment.
A call to an attorney for the company was not immediately returned.
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