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Decision of Note: <b>Lawsuit Over James Brown Hit Is Time-Barred</b>
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that a songwriter's suit over the James Brown hit “It's a Man's Man's Man's World” was barred by the 3-year statute of limitations of the Copyright Act. Newsome v. Brown, 01 Civ. 2807 (TPG).
Plaintiff Betty Newsome filed suit in 2001, alleging that the defendants improperly registered the mid-1960s hit by first citing Brown as the sole composer and later by stating that Brown and Newsome were co-authors. The district court noted, “However, in Barksdale v. Robinson, 211 F.R.D. 240 (S.D.N.Y. 2002), the court held that 'when the gravamen of a plaintiff's copyright claim is ownership, and not infringement, the infringement claims are barred if the ownership claim is time-barred' … The Second Circuit has held that 'plaintiffs claiming to be co-authors are time-barred 3 years after accrual of their claim from seeking a declaration of copyright co-ownership rights and any remedies that would flow from such a declaration.' Merchant v. Levy, 92 F.3d 51, 56 (2d Cir. 1996).”
The court then emphasized that Newsome's claim accrued either as early as 1966 when an earlier dispute arose over the song's authorship, or at the latest in 1996 when she signed an agreement that recognized Brown as co-author. The court also found Newsome's claim barred by laches.
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