Opinion ID: 796853
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Miller's 1964 Songs

Text: 43 The district court concluded that the renewal copyrights for the 1964 songs vested in Mary Miller and Roger Miller's children upon his death. Roger Miller Music, Inc., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24813, at -45. The court based its conclusion, in part, on the parties' statements that ownership of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs vested in Miller's wife and children because Miller died prior to the start of the renewal term for those songs. In its motion for judgment on the pleadings, Sony conceded that under 17 U.S.C. § 304, because Miller died prior to the first day of the renewal term for the 1964 songs, the renewal copyright vested in the author's widow and children, and not in Sony. (Def.'s Mem. in Supp. of its Mot. for J. on the Pleadings 18-19.) The renewal term for the 1964 songs began on January 1, 1993, and Miller died on October 25, 1992. 44 Following the court's decision, Sony filed a motion to alter or amend the court's judgment, under Rule 59(e), arguing that it had incorrectly interpreted 17 U.S.C. § 304(a)(2)(B)(i) and consequently Sony, and not the Appellants, owns the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs. (Appellee's Br. 32-36.) The district court denied the motion, concluding that Sony's statements, admitting that Mary Miller was the owner of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs, were judicial admissions. 45 We review a district court's determination as to whether a particular statement constitutes a judicial admission under the abuse-of-discretion standard. MacDonald v. GMC, 110 F.3d 337, 340 (6th Cir.1997). A judicial admission is generally treated as binding. New Amsterdam Cas. Co. v. Waller, 323 F.2d 20, 24 (4th Cir.1963). Judicial admissions dispense with the need to offer proof on facts about which there is no real dispute. Id. Thus, these admissions go to matters of fact which, otherwise, would require evidentiary proof. Id. In MacDonald, we reiterated that we are reluctant to treat [statements dealing with opinions and legal conclusions] as binding judicial admissions. 110 F.3d at 341. Further, we explained that [j]udicial admissions . . . typically concern only matters of fact. Id. In MacDonald, General Motor's counsel made statements regarding the defendant's negligence and whether the defendant had caused the car accident that was the subject of the litigation. The district court concluded that the comments by General Motor's counsel were not judicial admissions, and we affirmed the court's determination because the statements dealt with opinions and legal conclusions. Id. at 341. 46 In the present case, Sony's statements dealt with legal conclusions, and not matters of fact, and therefore the district court erred in concluding that the statements were judicial admissions. Sony conceded that it was not the owner of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs based on its interpretation of § 304 and its reading of the Supreme Court's decision in Miller Music. These statements by Sony are not statements regarding matters of fact; they are statements regarding Sony's interpretation of the law given the facts of the case. The MacDonald court specifically stated that judicial admissions concern only matters of fact. Id. Accordingly, because Sony's statements do not concern matters of fact, we reverse the district court's holding that Sony's statements are judicial admissions. 47 Further, under Rule 59(e), parties cannot use a motion for reconsideration to raise new legal arguments that could have been raised before a judgment was issued. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians v. Engler, 146 F.3d 367, 374 (6th Cir. 1998) (stating that [a] motion under Rule 59(e) is not an opportunity to re-argue a case); FDIC v. World Univ., Inc., 978 F.2d 10, 16 (1 st Cir.1992) (explaining that a Rule 59(e) motion may not be used to argue a new legal theory). Rather, a motion under Rule 59(e) must either clearly establish a manifest error of law or must present newly discovered evidence. World Univ., Inc., 978 F.2d at 16; FDIC v. Meyer, 781 F.2d 1260, 1268 (7th Cir.1986); see also Walker v. Michigan Dep't of Corr., 128 Fed.Appx. 441, 447 (6th Cir. 2005) (unpublished opinion). The district court, however, did not consider Sony's new legal argument (that it was the owner of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs) because the court concluded that Sony's earlier statements were judicial admissions. In light of the court's error on this point, we remand the case to the district court so it can determine whether it should hear Sony's new argument regarding its ownership of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs. 48 Further, because we are remanding the case for a determination as to whether Sony can raise its argument that it is the owner of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs, we need not decide whether the district court correctly determined that Sony has an implied, non-exclusive license in Miller's 1964 songs. A determination as to whether Sony has an implied license in the 1964 songs is relevant only if the district court concludes that Sony is not the owner of the renewal copyrights in those songs, because a license is a defense to a claim of copyright infringement. Johnson v. Jones, 149 F.3d 494, 500 (6th Cir.1998) (explaining that the existence of an implied license in a copyrighted work is an affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement); see also John G. Danielson, Inc. v. Winchester-Conant Prop., Inc., 322 F.3d 26, 40 (1st Cir.2003) (Uses of the copyrighted work that stay within the scope of a nonexclusive license are immunized from infringement suits.). In short, if the district court concludes that Sony is the owner of the renewal copyrights in the 1964 songs, it is immaterial whether Sony also has an implied, non-exclusive license in those songs.