Case solution of HSB Sony vs JK Wedding Dance

1. | 1P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
Sony and the JK Wedding Dance
A report submitted to
Instructor: Sudhir Pandey
In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course
On
20-Aug-2017

2. | 2P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
Letter of Transmittal (LOT)
Jeff Dodes,
Executive Vice President,
Marketing and Digital Media,
Sony’s Jive Label Group
A detailed analysis on entire scenario of JK Wedding is
provided to Sony which will be helpful to take decision on
copy right issue raised as due to usage of song ‘Forever’ sung
by Chris Brown who is endorsed by Sony.
Kindly find the enclosed report about infringement of
copyrighted content and alternatives options.

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Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
Executive Summary
The case is about JK-Wedding which was a blockbuster video of
YouTube in 2009.The song used in homemade wedding video was
sung by Chris Brown, a sensational American singer. This video is a
golden opportunity which will help Sony to get a huge number of
Organic audiences to our new marketing field that is Social media. If
we make a proper plan and execute it efficiently there are is
marvellous chance to get connected consumers directly. This will be a
perfect foundation of new marketing channel. We have option of
making it legal issue but it can be solve without the help of legal
actions. JK wedding is a rare opportunity so better we grab it before
it’s too late.

4. | 4P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
Situation Analysis
Sony is a major company in music recording industry who is trying to
adapt the new marketing strategy of social media. YouTube is famous
video sharing website owned by Google. This video hosting service is
a social media that connects the large number of audience. Getting an
organic audience is a toughest part of social media though it looks
like an easy task. Every company has to grab such opportunity if it
comes up like this. One such thing happened back in 2009. In month
of June of 2009, the video of JK Wedding got worldwide attention
when it got uploaded on YouTube, an online portal for surfing
Videos. In American wedding tradition, generally bride and groom
with bridesmaid and groomsmen walks down the aisle on some slow
music. In JK wedding the different part was the entry of the brides
and groom. The song started with Bridesmaid and Groomsmen
dancing on the aisle 7 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen and 4 ushers made
it extraordinary. The entry of Bride caught the eyes and it was the best
part. The moment Chris Brown sang “It’s like I waited my whole life,
for this my one night”, a beautiful Bride in traditional Gown enters
the aisle dramatically. This angelic entry actually made everyone go
“Aww...” This outstanding performance got 3.5 million views in first
48 hours and in just 1 month it got 28 million in North America and
33 million views worldwide which was a new record. Chris Brown is
endorsed by us and we have copyright over this song. We have three
options in this scenario. First option is to take down the video because
Sony has signed a content licensing deal with YouTube. Second
option is do nothing and let the video create organic audience. Third
option is to negotiate with JK couple and get the hold on video.

5. | 5P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
The Options
1. Take down the video considering it Copyright violence
2. Do nothing and let the video remain live on YouTube.
3. Negotiation with Jill and Kevin for mutual ground
Criteria for Evaluation
1. Monetary Benefits
2. Organic social media marketing Benefits
3. Parody of Video

6. | 6P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
Evaluation of Options
1. Take down the video considering it copyright violence
Criteria 1 – JK couple has mutually decided to donate all money to
a foundation who works to end the violence against Children and
Women, they have got outstanding monetary benefits. If Sony issues
a take-down notice, they will lose the chance to earn money. Sony is
won’t go into lose if they take down video and it is not going to
bother them at all.
Criteria 2 – The video got organic audience and that too in large
number which is very difficult to get. On other hand Chris Brown is
having hard time due to his criminal record. This video is a good
chance where Sony can easily get him back in business. If Sony
takes down the
video, they will lose the chance to get free and organic Publicity.
Criteria 3 - By taking video down Sony is demotivating that
population who are using songs without permission in public. If
Sony makes a parody video and it will create a negative impression
of a company and people will think of company as heartless
company. So in this case company can’t make a parody company.

7. | 7P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
2. Do nothing and let the video remain live on YouTube.
Criteria 1 – Sony can claim the video with the help of their
copyright over music video and Artist. By getting the ownership of
the video, Sony can easily earn money without any effort. This is
purely monetary benefits.
Criteria 2 – If we let this video stay on Social media, then it could
be very beneficial. By just adding a link on a video, we can divert a
large number to traffic to our YouTube page. This will also help us
to earn more organic traffic.
Criteria 3 – If we make a classic parody of this music and get Chris
Brown and JK couple on same screen and it will be a blockbuster. It
will surely get a very high number of traffic because we are doing
something that no one has ever thought of. By this we will be
connected more effectively with consumers.

8. | 8P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
3. Negotiation with Jill and Kevin for mutual ground
Criteria 1 – If we negotiate with JK Couple and mutually decide to
share the profit. One share will go to JK Couple and another share
will come to us. We can also endorse this couple and make more
profit out of this golden opportunity.
Criteria 2 – Instead of sharing profit, we can just use the popularity
of this couple to get more organic audience on our social media
platform. Social media platform is new effective platform of
marketing and we can certainly use this couple to make it more
amazing.
Criteria 3 – If JK couple comes to a mutual ground and then we
can make a new video which could be a fabulous Parody of JK
wedding. The audience on social media reacts quite quickly so we
can use that factor to make us and our endorsed artist more famous.
Parody of famous JK wedding will surely be popular.

9. | 9P a g e
Report submitted by Swapnil D. Shah
ACTION PLAN
1. We should simply add a link to JK wedding video on YouTube,
which will redirect the users to our Sony Homepage or to the
original music video of ‘Forever – Chris Brown’.
2. We should this amazing publicity to create a positive image of
Chris Brown, after we have endorsed this artist and it is very
important for us to get a reasonable return on our huge
investment.
3. JK Couple is going to donate all the earnings from this video to
foundation. We can make our Corporate social responsibility
team help them in there noble deed. This is kind of CSR for
which we already have popularity to share with JK couple.