Getting Less than Expected in Copyright Transfers

3 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2008 Last revised: 24 Oct 2010

See all articles by Thomas G. Field

Thomas G. Field

University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center)

Date Written: July 17, 2008

Abstract

This comment explores Davis v. Blige, 505 F.3d 90 (2d Cir. 2007), and Sybersound Records, Inc. v. UAV Corp., 517 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2008), cases that address the rights of transferees from copyright cotenants, but from opposite perspectives. Blige does not permit defendant to evade liability by a retrospective transfer, but it casts no doubt on the capacity of transferees, exclusive or not, to sue on the same basis as original owners. Sybersound, however, refuses suit by a transferee without denying that right to the original owner andcontrasts starkly. That transferees do not stand in the shoes of their transferors for purposes of enforcement is a radical proposition that should be rejected.

Keywords: co-owner, cotenant, copyright, F.R.C.Pro. 19, joinder, retrospective transfers

JEL Classification: K11, K29, K41

Suggested Citation

Field, Thomas G., Getting Less than Expected in Copyright Transfers (July 17, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1162149 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1162149

Thomas G. Field (Contact Author)

University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center) ( email )

Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.unh.edu/faculty/field

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