Talking of the White Stripes, according to Rolling Stone the duo are facing a copyright infringement suit over 'The Union Forever' – a track on last album 'White Blood Cells' which borrowed liberally from the classic movie 'Citizen Kane'. The song takes its name and much of its lyrics from the 1941 Orson Welles' movie, and Warner Brothers, who own the distribution rights to the film, are said to be considering taking action.
Copyright attorney Sam Ibrahim told the magazine: "I believe that Warner Bros. has a reasonable case against The White Stripes. In the event that a court found infringement, Warner Bros could get an injunction to stop future sales. The band could be found liable for millions of dollars in damages, and to keep selling the album they would have to pay a royalty. It could be in excess of three or four million dollars."
Jack White hasn't made any secret of the inspiration behind the song, telling Rolling Stone at the time of the album's release: "There's a song in the film 'It Can't Be Love, Because There Is No True Love' at a party they have in the Everglades. I was trying to play it on guitar, and I went through the film and started writing down things that might rhyme and make sense together."
But not all legal people are convinced it's a completely clear cut case. Another Copyright attorney, Laurence Pulgram, saying White's patchwork writing method could actually be the band's primary defence. "The White Stripes would argue that its use is transformative, in that it does not merely copy the film in a film, but takes bits and pieces of the film and transforms them into a song; and that this will not reduce sales or otherwise affect the 'market' for the film." Not quite sure why Warner Brothers have waited till now to consider action – though, providing it doesn't actually lead to an expensive court battle, talk of legal action is probably good for the band – getting them more media attention during the week of release of new album ‘Elephant’.