Clause & Effect

Music-Publishing Agreements/ Copyright Renewal Terms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided that singer/songwriter Roger Miller gave his music publisher the renewal rights to his 1958-1963 songs. Roger Miller Music Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publishing LLC, 05-6824. Miller, who died in 1992, had signed agreements with Sony's predecessor-in-interest Tree Publishing which required Miller and Tree to execute a separate exhibit for each song that Miller delivered to the publisher. The appeals court noted: 'Because the publishing agreements made no reference to the renewal copyrights and the Exhibit A agreements were never executed, Appellants [Roger Miller Music and widow Mary Arnold Miller] contend that Sony could not have received the renewal copyrights for Miller's 1958-1963 songs.' But the exhibit agreement stated Miller authorized the publisher to 'renew' his copyrights, which the appeals court found demonstrated 'the intent to convey the renewal interest; this is particularly true because even more generic terms, such as 'forever' and 'hereafter,' have sufficed to convey an interest in the renewal copyrights.' And though a subsequent 1969 contract in which Miller and Tree agreed to waive the Exhibit A signing requirement 'specifically mentions only the royalty provisions of the Exhibit A agreement,' the court concluded that 'nothing in the parties' course of dealing shows that the parties did not intend to be bound by all the provisions of the Exhibit A agreement.'

Sony had conceded to the district court that Miller's estate owned his 1964 songs because the songwriter had died before the renewal term began on Jan. 1, 1993. But the appeals court ruled: 'Sony's statements dealt with legal conclusions, and not matters of fact, and therefore the district court erred in concluding that the statements were [binding] judicial admissions ' [W]e remand the case to the district court so it can determine whether it should hear Sony's new argument regarding its ownership of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs.'

Music-Publishing Agreements/ Copyright Renewal Terms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided that singer/songwriter Roger Miller gave his music publisher the renewal rights to his 1958-1963 songs. Roger Miller Music Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publishing LLC, 05-6824. Miller, who died in 1992, had signed agreements with Sony's predecessor-in-interest Tree Publishing which required Miller and Tree to execute a separate exhibit for each song that Miller delivered to the publisher. The appeals court noted: 'Because the publishing agreements made no reference to the renewal copyrights and the Exhibit A agreements were never executed, Appellants [Roger Miller Music and widow Mary Arnold Miller] contend that Sony could not have received the renewal copyrights for Miller's 1958-1963 songs.' But the exhibit agreement stated Miller authorized the publisher to 'renew' his copyrights, which the appeals court found demonstrated 'the intent to convey the renewal interest; this is particularly true because even more generic terms, such as 'forever' and 'hereafter,' have sufficed to convey an interest in the renewal copyrights.' And though a subsequent 1969 contract in which Miller and Tree agreed to waive the Exhibit A signing requirement 'specifically mentions only the royalty provisions of the Exhibit A agreement,' the court concluded that 'nothing in the parties' course of dealing shows that the parties did not intend to be bound by all the provisions of the Exhibit A agreement.'

Sony had conceded to the district court that Miller's estate owned his 1964 songs because the songwriter had died before the renewal term began on Jan. 1, 1993. But the appeals court ruled: 'Sony's statements dealt with legal conclusions, and not matters of fact, and therefore the district court erred in concluding that the statements were [binding] judicial admissions ' [W]e remand the case to the district court so it can determine whether it should hear Sony's new argument regarding its ownership of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs.'