Opinion ID: 767371
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Leonard Brown's Copyright in Ain't Got Much

Text: 34 Appellants claim that because Leonard Brown's wife wrote the song Ain't Got Much and he failed to produce a written copyright assignment from her at trial, the district court erred in granting him a copyright in the song. 35 Appellants never raised this particular objection to Brown's copyright in Ain't Got Much at trial. To avoid being waived, an argument must be raised to such a degree that the trial court may rule on it. In re Fairchild Aircraft Corp., 6 F.3d 1119, 1128 (5th Cir. 1993); see also Harris County, Tex. v. CarMax Auto Superstores, Inc., 177 F.3d 306 (5th Cir. 1999); FDIC v. Mijalis, 15 F.3d 1314, 1327 (5th Cir. 1994). In its April 2, 1997 motion for judgment, Collectibles (but not Ames) challenged Brown's copyright on the grounds that his misrepresentation to the copyright office of authorship of Ain't Got Much invalidated his copyright application for the entire collection it appeared in. Collectibles did not, however, contend that Brown's copyright in the song was invalid because he had not produced a written copyright assignment from his wife. In fact, at no time did Collectibles or Ames raise that particular objection at trial. Consequently, the district court never ruled on it. As a result, appellants have waived the right to appeal on this ground.