Bit Parts

Copyright Infringement/Content Deletions

The U.S. District for the District of Colorado declined to accept a public-benefit argument by companies that sold DVD copies of motion pictures, edited without permission of film studios to delete what the editing companies claimed was objectionable content. CleanFlicks of Colorado LLC v. Soderbergh, 02-cv-01662. Granting the studios' and film directors' motion for a permanent injunction, the district court found that the editing companies violated the film studios' exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute movies that the studios make. The court noted: 'Under the facts of this case, the presumed destruction of the [editing companies'] businesses is not a justification for denying these copyright holders ' the Studios ' the right to control the reproduction and distribution of the protected work in their original form.'

Copyright Renewal Rights/Vesting

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania decided that the copyright-renewal term provided for by Congress in 1992 with 17 U.S.C. Sec. 304(a)(2)(B)(i) vests in the party entitled to those rights at the time the renewal application is filed with the Copyright Office, as long as the author is alive when the renewal application is filed. Dimensional Music Publishing LLC v. Kersey, 05-6437. The case involved a fight over writer Ron Kersey's 50% share of the copyright to the 1977 composition 'Disco Inferno.' The administrator for Dimensional Music, the song's current publisher, had filed a copyright-renewal application on Jan. 5, 2005, the 28^th year of the initial copyright term. Kersey died on Jan. 25, 2005. The renewal took effect on Jan. 1, 2006. Kersey's estate argued that his death served to revert the renewal right to his estate because Kersey didn't live to the end of the 28^th year. Dimension argued that it was entitled to the renewal right because Kersey was alive when the renewal application was filed. Siding with Dimension, the district court noted: 'The case will now proceed on the question of whether Kersey's renewal rights were [in fact] transferred by the 1977 Agreement.'

Recording Contracts/Personal Jurisdiction

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia found that an Alabama-based record label was subject to personal jurisdiction in a suit in Georgia brought by Georgia-based artists the label had signed. Best v. Raley Records and Entertainment Inc., 7:06-cv-23. The plaintiffs obtained a deal, which included salaries, with Raley Records through third-party Brian Driggers. The label later terminated the artist contract prior to end of the stated contract term. The plaintiffs filed suit for fraud and breach of contract, among other things. The district court noted that the plaintiffs alleged that the label had 'engaged in the following business transactions within the State of Georgia: 1) directed Plaintiffs to record a demo with their new lead singer ', 2) made a contract offer to Plaintiffs, … which Plaintiffs accepted ' and 3) paid [plaintiffs Patrick] Best and [Henry] McGill for their work.' But the district court found no personal jurisdiction over the label's owners because the plaintiffs' allegations ' that the label owners had asked the band to record with a new lead singer and that one of the owners in Alabama informed the artists that the contract had ended ' 'do not constitute business transactions, a tortious act or omission, or tortious injury caused within Georgia.'

Songwriting-Fraud Claims/Statute of Limitations

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refused to dismiss on statute-of-limitations grounds a fraud suit filed against a songwriter and his music publisher by the songwriter's former wife. Gilmore v. Davis, 05-5176. Martha Gilmore and songwriter Stephen Davis divorced in 1974. Gilmore found out from Davis in 2002 that the early 1970s hit 'The Most Beautiful Girl,' a hit for Charlie Rich, had been a rewrite of a Davis co-written tune 'Mama McCluskie.' Davis also revealed to Gilmore that he had been a co-author of 'Beautiful Girl.' (Gilmore's attorney had met with Davis publisher Al Gallico during the 1974 divorce proceedings to find out whether Davis had been involved in writing 'Beautiful Girl'; Gallico had told Gilmore's lawyer that Davis wasn't.) The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed Gilmore's suit against Davis and Gallico. Reversing, the appeals court noted, in an unpublished opinion, that: 'Although the facts clearly demonstrate that Gilmore knew of the possible similarities between the two songs and directed her attorney to investigate, those facts do not prove as a matter of law that she discovered her claims [as early as 1974].'

Copyright Infringement/Content Deletions

The U.S. District for the District of Colorado declined to accept a public-benefit argument by companies that sold DVD copies of motion pictures, edited without permission of film studios to delete what the editing companies claimed was objectionable content. CleanFlicks of Colorado LLC v. Soderbergh, 02-cv-01662. Granting the studios' and film directors' motion for a permanent injunction, the district court found that the editing companies violated the film studios' exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute movies that the studios make. The court noted: 'Under the facts of this case, the presumed destruction of the [editing companies'] businesses is not a justification for denying these copyright holders ' the Studios ' the right to control the reproduction and distribution of the protected work in their original form.'

Copyright Renewal Rights/Vesting

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania decided that the copyright-renewal term provided for by Congress in 1992 with 17 U.S.C. Sec. 304(a)(2)(B)(i) vests in the party entitled to those rights at the time the renewal application is filed with the Copyright Office, as long as the author is alive when the renewal application is filed. Dimensional Music Publishing LLC v. Kersey, 05-6437. The case involved a fight over writer Ron Kersey's 50% share of the copyright to the 1977 composition 'Disco Inferno.' The administrator for Dimensional Music, the song's current publisher, had filed a copyright-renewal application on Jan. 5, 2005, the 28^th year of the initial copyright term. Kersey died on Jan. 25, 2005. The renewal took effect on Jan. 1, 2006. Kersey's estate argued that his death served to revert the renewal right to his estate because Kersey didn't live to the end of the 28^th year. Dimension argued that it was entitled to the renewal right because Kersey was alive when the renewal application was filed. Siding with Dimension, the district court noted: 'The case will now proceed on the question of whether Kersey's renewal rights were [in fact] transferred by the 1977 Agreement.'

Recording Contracts/Personal Jurisdiction

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia found that an Alabama-based record label was subject to personal jurisdiction in a suit in Georgia brought by Georgia-based artists the label had signed. Best v. Raley Records and Entertainment Inc., 7:06-cv-23. The plaintiffs obtained a deal, which included salaries, with Raley Records through third-party Brian Driggers. The label later terminated the artist contract prior to end of the stated contract term. The plaintiffs filed suit for fraud and breach of contract, among other things. The district court noted that the plaintiffs alleged that the label had 'engaged in the following business transactions within the State of Georgia: 1) directed Plaintiffs to record a demo with their new lead singer ', 2) made a contract offer to Plaintiffs, … which Plaintiffs accepted ' and 3) paid [plaintiffs Patrick] Best and [Henry] McGill for their work.' But the district court found no personal jurisdiction over the label's owners because the plaintiffs' allegations ' that the label owners had asked the band to record with a new lead singer and that one of the owners in Alabama informed the artists that the contract had ended ' 'do not constitute business transactions, a tortious act or omission, or tortious injury caused within Georgia.'

Songwriting-Fraud Claims/Statute of Limitations

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refused to dismiss on statute-of-limitations grounds a fraud suit filed against a songwriter and his music publisher by the songwriter's former wife. Gilmore v. Davis, 05-5176. Martha Gilmore and songwriter Stephen Davis divorced in 1974. Gilmore found out from Davis in 2002 that the early 1970s hit 'The Most Beautiful Girl,' a hit for Charlie Rich, had been a rewrite of a Davis co-written tune 'Mama McCluskie.' Davis also revealed to Gilmore that he had been a co-author of 'Beautiful Girl.' (Gilmore's attorney had met with Davis publisher Al Gallico during the 1974 divorce proceedings to find out whether Davis had been involved in writing 'Beautiful Girl'; Gallico had told Gilmore's lawyer that Davis wasn't.) The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed Gilmore's suit against Davis and Gallico. Reversing, the appeals court noted, in an unpublished opinion, that: 'Although the facts clearly demonstrate that Gilmore knew of the possible similarities between the two songs and directed her attorney to investigate, those facts do not prove as a matter of law that she discovered her claims [as early as 1974].'