In Capitol Records Inc v Naxos of America, the New York Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled that New York common law “protects ownership interests in sound recordings made before 1972 that are not covered by the federal Copyright Act”. The decision, which is expected to have significant ramifications in the music recording industry, allows artists, their estates and others involved in recordings made prior to 1972 to collect royalties in the United States for their performances.
The state ruling is the result of a certified question from a federal court dealing with a copyright infringement lawsuit (see Second Circuit asks New York court to decide scope of common law copyright) . In the suit a federal copyright law provision that gives state and common law protection to pre-1972 recordings was challenged by the discount record company Naxos, which restores and markets recordings of performances of classical music. The recordings at issue were mainly made in England in the 1930s, originally recorded on shellac disks – they include such important historical recordings as Yehudi Menuhin’s 1932 performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto.
In 1996 the federal court, in dealing with a similar matter, ruled that the federal law does not apply to recordings made before the 1972 federal copyright law where the copyright expired 50 years after the records were made. Moreover, the federal court held that there was no common law right under New York State law.
This finding has now been overturned by the New York Appeals Court. However, it is not unlikely that the decision will be unchallenged, particularly in the wake of growing concern in the United States over the shrinking public domain (see All eyes on orphan works as advocacy groups enter the Kahle fray and Court dismisses archives' challenge to copyright laws) .
Heydary, Javad
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