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: Cogito Ergo Teneo; an intellectual property blawg

Copyright Law: Loretta Lynn 060607

By Sean Fowler

Loretta Lynn v. Sure-Fire Music Company, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 06-5358 (June 6, 2007):

Issue:
The short of it is Loretta Lynn and Sure Fire were battling over copy rights to several songs penned by Loretta Lynn. Loretta Lynn brought six of her claims under state law. Sure Fire protested under the equivalency rule.

Pertinent issue of Copyright Law:
1) Does federal copyright law automatically preempt any state claims over penned lyrics?

Conclusion:
No.

"Lynn carefully pleaded her first cause of action to allege only ownership claims based exclusively on the interpretation of the 1966 written amended agreement entered by the parties. She has not asserted an infringement claim or any other theory equivalent to a right exclusive to the Copyright Act. ... A claim solely to determine ownership of copyrights is not among the exclusive rights conferred by § 106 of the Copyright Act and, ordinarily, is a matter of state law."

"Lynn's second and third claims are concerned with dominion over tangible personal property ... and they fall outside the scope of the Copyright Act."

"Lynn's fourth and fifth claims seek the recovery of money for mixed tort and breach of contract claims and not for damages related to the loss of any rights conferred by the Copyright Act. Stated differently, to prevail on her fourth and fifth causes of action, Lynn must prove the formation and breach of an enforceable written contract which she would not be obligated to prove if these claims were merely for copyright infringement under § 106. They are not "equivalent" to the exclusive rights conferred by § 106. Therefore, we hold that these claims are not preempted."

Lynn's sixth claim requesting an accounting likewise does not assert any of the exclusive rights protected by the Copyright Act, but asks only for the familiar common law equitable relief of a [*12] court-ordered accounting; in this instance, of earned foreign royalties. A request for an accounting of amounts at issue in a common law breach of contract case is uniquely a state law claim and it is neither a right nor a remedy conferred by the Copyright Act. Therefore, Lynn's sixth claim is not preempted by the Act.

Full post as published by Cogito Ergo Teneo; an intellectual property blawg on November 28, 2007 (boomark / email).