Opinion ID: 796853
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellants' Ownership Claim

Text: 26 The district court's conclusion that the Appellants' ownership claim is not time-barred is correct because there was no plain and express repudiation of ownership by Sony or Appellants as required by Ritchie. Sony argues that its actions, such as filing the application for renewal of the copyrights in Miller's songs, openly and exclusively licensing Miller's songs during their renewal term, and paying Miller and Appellants royalties for Sony's exploitation of the renewal copyrights, amounted to a plain and express repudiation of Appellants' ownership claims to the renewal copyrights in Miller's songs. (Appellee's Br. at 37.) 27 In Ritchie, the defendant's ownership claim was untimely because the plaintiff, Robert Ritchie, also known as Kid Rock, had expressly told the defendants, in a letter, that he had exclusive ownership of the songs he had written. 395 F.3d at 288. Specifically, the Ritchie Court noted that Kid Rock's letter made it clear that he regarded the songs he had written as his songs and subsequently claimed exclusive ownership of the rights to those songs. Id. Accordingly, we concluded that Kid Rock's letter constituted a plain and express repudiation of defendant's ownership claim and started the three-year-statute-of-limitations period. In the present case, there was no similar plain and express repudiation of ownership. In 1995, Appellants sent Sony an audit report, entitled Report on Application of Agreed-Upon Procedures Relating to Sony/Tree on Behalf of the Estate of Roger Miller P.E. April 30, 1979 Through December 31, 1994. The audit letter discloses any underpayment of royalties to Miller and his estate from April 30, 1979, through December 31, 1994. Unlike Kid Rock's letter in Ritchie, the audit letter does not address ownership of the renewal copyrights and does not clearly claim ownership over those copyrights. Accordingly, because there was no plain and express repudiation of ownership, the district court correctly held that Appellants' ownership claims are not time-barred. 28