Opinion ID: 789734
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: ABKCO Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd.

Text: 179 Finally, I respectfully disagree with the Majority's reading of the Second Circuit's decision in ABKCO Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 944 F.2d 971 (2d Cir.1990). Far from reaffirm[ing] the principle of Eden Toys that a party that has no ownership interest has no standing to sue, as the Majority asserts (op. at 889-90), in my view, the decision clearly holds that copyright ownership is not the sine qua non of standing, but that assignees of accrued causes of action may sue for copyright infringement. 180 In 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation, which owned the copyright to a song entitled He's So Fine, sued musician (and Beatles band member) George Harrison and Harrisongs Music claiming that Harrison's tune My Sweet Lord infringed Bright Tunes' copyright. The trial court agreed and ruled in favor of Bright Tunes, but reserved judgment on the issue of damages. Id. at 975. 181 In 1971, at the time Bright Tunes sued Harrison, ABKCO Music, Inc. and its president served as business manager for the Beatles. Id. at 975. In 1978, ABKCO purchased all of Bright Tunes' interest in He's So Fine including the copyright and any and all rights assertable under copyright against the infringing composition (My Sweet Lord) in any part of the world which may have heretofore arisen or which may arise hereafter. Id. at 980. Accordingly, ABKCO was substituted as the sole party plaintiff in the action against Harrisongs Music. Id. at 975. However, Harrison had claims against ABKCO and its principal Klein which required ABKCO to convey the old Bright Tunes copyright to He's So Fine to Harrison on the payment of a sum. 182 On appeal, ABKCO claimed that if it conveyed the old Bright Tunes He's So Fine copyright to Harrison, it could not participate in the 1980 foreign settlements and it would lose its pre-1970 infringement claims. 183 As concerns us, the dispositive question was a determination of what rights were at issue in the 1980 foreign settlements: ABKCO's possession of the copyright to He's So Fine or merely its ownership of the infringement claims. The Second Circuit held it was merely the ownership of the infringement claims, and held that ABKCO's right to bring the claims derived from its ownership of the accrued infringement claims. 184 In so holding, the Second Circuit noted that although ABKCO now owned the copyright and the accrued infringement claims, it need not continue to own the copyright to enforce its accrued-in-1970 causes of action for copyright infringement arising from the 1980 settlement. The court reasoned: Hence, the claims had already accrued when ABKCO purchased all of Bright Tunes' rights in He's So Fine. As a consequence, ABKCO's right to bring the claims arises not out of its ownership of the copyright, but from its ownership of the claims themselves which it purchased, along with the copyright, in 1978. We therefore conclude that ABKCO's ownership of the He's So Fine copyrights was not a necessary predicate to its participation in the 1980 settlements. ABKCO could participate in the 1980 settlements because it owned the infringement claims accrued in 1970, not because it owned the copyright. Thus, ABKCO's ownership of the copyright was not affected by the 1980 settlements, and ABKCO must surrender the copyright to the Harrison Interests upon proper payment. 185 Id. at 980-981 (emphasis added). 186 Thus, under the holding in ABKCO, ownership of the copyright is not a requirement for the enforcement of accrued claims assigned to the assignee (ABKCO) so long as the claims arose during the period when the assignor (Bright Tunes) was the owner of the copyright. Moreover, ABKCO could continue to assert such accrued copyright infringement claims even though it would be forced to give up the copyright. 187 According to the Majority, [t]he Second Circuit [in ABKCO ] made clear that its decision was limited to the situation in which the same entity purchased both the copyright and accrued claims; the only issue was one of timing, whether ownership of the copyright and occurrence of the infringement had to coincide. Op. at ___. I respectfully disagree. In ABKCO, ownership of both the copyright and the accrued causes of action was merely coincident — not required — for ABKCO to have standing to sue. 188 Indeed, ABKCO, like Silvers, did not own the copyright to He's So Fine when George Harrison and the Beatles plagiarized it into My Sweet Lord. The copyright to He's So Fine was owned by Bright Tunes; the infringements took place before 1970. 189 In the case at bar, there is no dispute that Frank & Bob Films II owned the copyright when the alleged Sony infringement took place and that they, like Bright Tunes, assigned those accrued infringement claims to Silvers. Thus, like ABKCO, Silvers has standing to pursue those accrued infringement claims. 190 Accordingly, I respectfully disagree with the Majority: to avoid the creation of a circuit-split, op. at 889-90, this court should follow the Fifth Circuit's decision in Prather, rather than the Second Circuit's decision in Eden Toys, as the facts in Eden Toys are clearly distinguishable. In addition, in ABKCO, a more recent decision, the Second Circuit expressly held that ownership of both the copyright and the accrued causes of action is not necessary for the owner of those claims to bring suit.