Scorpio Music S.A. v. Willis
United States District Court for the Southern District of California
102 U.S.P.Q.2d 1606 (2012)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Between 1977 and 1979, singer Victor Willis (defendant) was approached by a French corporation, Scorpio Music S.A. (Scorpio) (plaintiff) to translate lyrics or provide new lyrics to 33 songs owned by Scorpio. Willis became one of multiple credited authors of these songs, which were then performed by the Village People, a novelty disco group in which Willis performed. In a series of agreements, Willis transferred his copyright interests in the 33 compositions to Can’t Stop Music, a division of Can’t Stop Productions, Inc. (CSP) (plaintiff), the American publisher of compositions owned by Scorpio. The agreements were executed separately from agreements with the other authors. In 2011 Willis served Scorpio and CSP with a notice of termination of the post-1977 grants with respect to the 33 songs. Scorpio and CSP sought a declaratory judgment and injunction against Willis in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Scorpio and CSP also sought to limit Willis’s percentage ownership to the amount provided for in the original agreements. Willis moved for dismissal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Moskowitz, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 830,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
