The result
Victor Willis is entitled to terminate Scorpio Music’s rights in his songs
The impact
Authors can reclaim copyright even when they are not the only right holder
Victor Willis, the policeman in the music group The Village People, sued Scorpio Music in an effort to reclaim rights to songs he helped write, including the hits YMCA, In the Navy and Go West. Willis sought to reclaim the rights under Section 203 of the US Copyright Act, which gives authors the right to terminate grants of copyright made after January 1 1978, provided they exercised the grant at least 35 years earlier. Scorpio requested a declaratory judgment that the notice had been improperly filed, as Willis did not represent a majority of the creators of the work. In May, the US District Court for the District of California ruled that Willis could terminate the agreement because he had assigned his rights separately from the other copyright holders. The case has opened the door for other artists to pursue similar claims. Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Kris Kristofferson are among those now seeking the return of their rights
This case was selected as one of Managing IP’s Cases of the Year for 2012.
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