A copyright infringement lawsuit brought against country star Toby Keith by singer/songwriter Michael McCloud has been dismissed.
In a 2006 suit filed in federal court in Miami, the Key West, Fla.-based McCloud, whose real name is Michael Snyder, contended that Keith's 2003 hit "I Love This Bar," written by Keith and longtime collaborator Scotty Emerick, was "strikingly similar" to his own "Tourist Town Bar," according to a Dec. 2006 story in the Miami Herald.
The suit was filed against Keith, Emerick, Keith's label at the time, DreamWorks, and his publishing company, Tokeco Tunes.
"It is an awful thing to be accused wrongfully of copyright infringement," Keith said in a statement. "It goes to the core of what you are as a man, a singer/songwriter and an artist ... I was put in the terrible position of not being able to defend myself until the trial and I just could not wait for that day to come. I knew it would take no time at all for the case to be dismissed and it was, of course, with prejudice which means: He had no case whatsoever."
The song has also spawned I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants in Oklahoma City and Las Vegas.
In a 2006 suit filed in federal court in Miami, the Key West, Fla.-based McCloud, whose real name is Michael Snyder, contended that Keith's 2003 hit "I Love This Bar," written by Keith and longtime collaborator Scotty Emerick, was "strikingly similar" to his own "Tourist Town Bar," according to a Dec. 2006 story in the Miami Herald.
The suit was filed against Keith, Emerick, Keith's label at the time, DreamWorks, and his publishing company, Tokeco Tunes.
"It is an awful thing to be accused wrongfully of copyright infringement," Keith said in a statement. "It goes to the core of what you are as a man, a singer/songwriter and an artist ... I was put in the terrible position of not being able to defend myself until the trial and I just could not wait for that day to come. I knew it would take no time at all for the case to be dismissed and it was, of course, with prejudice which means: He had no case whatsoever."
The song has also spawned I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants in Oklahoma City and Las Vegas.
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