Opinion ID: 202552
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claim for Declaratory Judgment

Text: 11 Because Santa Rosa's rescission claim is preempted, we are left only with his claim for a declaratory judgment of ownership, which arises under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 201. Santa Rosa claimed that the courts should resolve the uncertainty over ownership of his recordings by issuing a declaratory judgment that he is the sole owner of those recordings. Combo responded that Santa Rosa's declaratory judgment action was time barred. The district court agreed that Santa Rosa's claim was barred by the statute of limitations and granted Combo's motion to dismiss. See LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co., 142 F.3d 507, 509 (1st Cir.1998) (holding that dismissal is appropriate if the plaintiff's allegations leave no doubt that the statute of limitations would bar the claim). We agree with the district court that the declaratory judgment action is time barred and that dismissal was appropriate. 6 12 17 U.S.C. § 507(b) provides that [n]o civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued. A claim accrues when the plaintiff `knows or has reason to know of the act which is the basis for the claim.' Rodríguez-García v. Municipality of Caguas, 354 F.3d 91, 96-97 (1st Cir. 2004) (quoting Rodríguez Nárvaez v. Nazario, 895 F.2d 38, 41 n. 5 (1st Cir.1990)). Thus, a claim for declaratory judgment of ownership accrues when the plaintiff knew of the alleged grounds for the [ownership] claim. Margo v. Weiss, 213 F.3d 55, 60-61 (2d Cir.2000); see also Merchant v. Levy, 92 F.3d 51, 56 (2d Cir.1996)([N]o . . . uncertainty exists as to co-ownership rights based on co-authorship. A co-author knows that he or she jointly created a work from the moment of its creation.). It goes without saying that Santa Rosa was present when his performances were recorded by Combo Records, and thus knew from the moment that each recording was created that he had a potential claim for ownership of it. Thus, there is little question that Santa Rosa's claims for co-ownership accrued as soon as he finished recording each album. 7 13 Santa Rosa points to the Ninth Circuit's holding in Zuill v. Shanahan that a claim for a declaratory judgment would not accrue until a plain and express repudiation of co-ownership is communicated to the claimant. 80 F.3d 1366, 1369 (9th Cir.1996). Even applying this test for accrual of a claim, we cannot think of a more plain and express repudiation of co-ownership than the fact that Combo openly, and quite notoriously, sold Santa Rosa's records without providing payment to him: according to documents provided by Santa Rosa, at least 1,140 of the recordings in dispute were sold during the six month period between January and June of 2000, almost four years before Santa Rosa filed suit in May 2004. Likewise, it is hard to believe that a singer of Santa Rosa's stature would have been unaware that Combo Records was selling his recordings and thus claiming ownership over them until three years before this action was commenced. 14 Because we conclude that Santa Rosa had reason to know of his claim of ownership over the recordings soon after they were created (which was well over three years before Santa Rosa filed suit against Combo), we agree with the district court that Santa Rosa's declaratory judgment action is time barred by 17 U.S.C. § 507(b).