Bit Parts

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that a district court properly sent the question of song ownership to a copyright infringement jury. Latin American Music Co. Inc. (LAMCO) v. Media Power Group Inc., 11-2108. Music publisher LAMCO and the performing rights society Asociaci'n de Compositores y Editores de M'sica Latinoamericana sued a radio stations owner and its president for alleged airplay of unlicensed songs. The U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico granted partial summary judgment for the defendants as to 12 of the songs and a jury ruled for the defendants at trial on the remaining nine songs. As part of its appeal, LAMCO argued that the district court erred by allowing the jury to consider the issue of ownership of the latter nine songs. But affirming in full, the First Circuit noted: “Not only did LAMCO fail to object to jury instructions on the issue of ownership, but its own proposed instructions stated that LAMCO had the burden of proving ownership of each song as an element of the claim. LAMCO even objected to the defendants' Rule 50(a) motion for judgment as a matter of law by arguing that it was for the jury to determine whether LAMCO owned the songs. Furthermore, although the special verdict form asked the jury to determine whether LAMCO proved ownership of the songs, LAMCO did not object to it on the ground that ownership was an established fact. The jury found that LAMCO failed to prove that it owned the songs, and, as instructed, did not proceed to decide whether LAMCO proved infringement.”

1981 Merchandising Royalties Underpayment Claim Can Proceed