Three Boys Music Corp. v. Michael Bolton 212 F.3d 477 (9th Cir. 2000) The Isley Brothers recorded a song. Many years later, Bolton recorded a similar-sounding song. The Isley Brothers sued for copyright infringement. Bolton argued that he couldn't remember ever hearing the Isley Brothers song and that he came up with his song all by himself (aka independent creation). The Trial Court found for the Isley Brothers. Bolton appealed. The Appellate Court affirmed. The Appellate Court found that there are two elements to establishing infringement: There must be evidence that the defendant had access to the copyrighted work. There must be evidence that the works are substantially similar. The Court found there were two ways to establish access: A particular chain of events is established between the plaintiff's work and the defendant's access to that work (like the defendant dealt with the same publisher as the plaintiff), or The plaintiff's work was "widely disseminated." The Court found that these were very fact-dependent issues so they would trust the jury's decision. The Court noted that they personally thought that the Isley's evidence that the song had been widely disseminated was pretty weak. The Isley Brothers had provided testimony from dee-jays that they had played the song on the radio in the city Bolton grew up in, and that Bolton really liked music similar to the Isley Brothers.