Photo Credit: Brad Switzer
The original songwriters of a University of Michigan fight song are fighting back against the song’s publishers over alleged licensing interference.
The realm of termination clause legal battles continues to heat up, following the high-profile cases involving Salt-N-Pepa and 2 Live Crew. Both of those cases ended in opposition to the artists based on matters that were unfortunately outside the scope of the terminations themselves. Now, the original songwriters of a University of Michigan fight song are fighting back against the song’s publishers over the alleged interference in a licensing deal made for a video game.
Noted publisher Carl Fischer sued the songwriters of “Let’s Go Blue” for interfering with a licensing deal made with EA for the video game series College Football. That interference allegedly stemmed from claims that the copyright had reverted and the publishers lacked the right to license it.
Now, the authors (Albert Ahronheim and Joe Carl) have filed a counterclaim against the publishers (Carl Fischer and Theodore Presser). The composers claim the publishers illegally licensed their song to the College Football series without authority and for a “paltry” and “shockingly low” fee of approximately $1,000.
However, the composers argue that they successfully reclaimed the rights back in 2013. But the publishers counter that the copyright termination was invalid because the composers failed to file an official report with the U.S. Copyright Office before the effective date in 2013.
Copyright termination rights allow creators (or their heirs) to cancel prior transfers or licenses of their copyrights and reclaim their work—offering them a “second chance” to renegotiate better deals or reclaim their own work independently.
These provisions were set forth in the U.S. Copyright Act and operate based on a five-year window that begins 35 years from the date the original agreement was executed. Notice must be served two to 10 years before the chosen termination date.