The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, October 19, left standing an appeals court decision allowing songwriter Cyril Vetter to reclaim worldwide copyrights under U.S. copyright termination law. The outcome preserves Vetter’s ownership ruling while leaving the broader question of international termination rights unresolved.
The dispute over worldwide rights
The case concerned “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)”, written by Vetter and the late Donald Smith and popularized by the Swingin’ Medallions in 1966. The writers transferred their copyrights to Windsong Music Publishers in 1963.
Vetter filed notice in 2019 to terminate that agreement, with termination taking effect in 2022. The subsequent dispute concerned whether he could recover the song’s worldwide rights or only its U.S. rights.
In 2023, Vetter sued Resnik Music Group, which had acquired Windsong. A federal judge in Louisiana ruled in 2025 that Vetter had reclaimed worldwide copyright ownership, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision in January 2026.
Publishers challenge the decision
The publishing divisions of BMG, Sony Music, Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music challenged the ruling. The companies had subsequently acquired Resnik’s interest in the disputed copyright.
They argued that applying U.S. termination rights internationally would unsettle decades of industry practice and put publishing agreements worth billions of dollars at risk. Vetter’s attorneys contested those arguments.
U.S. copyright law permits songwriters and other creators to reclaim previously transferred rights after a specified period if they satisfy legal requirements. Those provisions give creators another opportunity to earn from works whose value may have increased since the original transfer.
Four justices did not participate
The Supreme Court lacked the six justices required for a quorum because four justices did not participate:
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Neil Gorsuch
- Amy Coney Barrett
- Ketanji Brown Jackson
The remaining justices determined that the case could not be heard during the upcoming term. That left the appeals court judgment intact without a Supreme Court decision on the underlying legal issue.
The outcome preserves the recognition of worldwide termination rights in Vetter’s case but does not establish a nationwide rule. How courts in other jurisdictions will resolve comparable disputes remains unsettled.
