Wisconsin Tourism Jingle: Infringment?

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle unveiled a new tourism campaign for the state last week, which includes the adoption of a new slogan: Wisconsin — Life's So Good.  As part of the $3.8M initiative, a Milwaukee man was commissioned to pen a song to accompany television, radio and internet ad campaigns.  The resulting jingle, "Life's So Good," was incorporated into ads played throughout the region, whereupon many listeners found themselves asking, "Where have I heard that before?"  If the listeners happened to be fans of the British group Supergrass, they may have been hearing similarities between "Life's So Good" and "Alright," a single from the 1995 Supergrass release "I Should Coco."

The Department of Tourism is apparently unconcerned, citing a difference in the lyrics as enough to distinguish the tunes.  Unfortunately, this could prove insufficient for the state to prevail should a copyright infringement lawsuit be brought.

“It's a common misconception that you can change a work of art a certain percentage, and avoid infringement,” said Nick Kees, an intellectual property lawyer. “The problem is starting out with something that exists before and changing it, that whole process will only result in copyright infringement."  Essentially, the question of similarity would come down to a jury issue and at least some people see that similarity.  “I had never heard either song before but they seem very, very similar,” said Meg Ingram after hearing them both.