Music publishers’ challenge to a ruling allowing songwriter Cyril Vetter to reclaim worldwide rights ended at the US Supreme Court on October 19. The court’s order left his victory in place because too few justices participated. Reuters reported that publishing arms of BMG, Sony, Universal and Warner had sought to overturn the decision involving Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love).
The order names Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson as taking no part, without explaining why. That left five justices, below the six required. The remaining justices concluded the case could not be heard and decided next term, triggering a statutory affirmance with the effect of an equally divided court.
According to Reuters, Vetter and Donald Smith wrote the song in 1962 and transferred its copyright to Windsong Music Publishers in 1963. Vetter issued a termination notice in 2019, effective in 2022. US law permits creators to reclaim certain rights transferred decades earlier, addressing their weak bargaining position when works have yet to prove valuable.
The dispute concerned whether that recovery included rights outside the United States. Vetter sued Resnik in Louisiana in 2023; a district judge ruled for him in 2025, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed in January. Music Business Worldwide reported that four publishers acquired Resnik’s claimed interest in March 2026 and replaced him as defendants to pursue Supreme Court review.
The publishers warned that the ruling threatened agreements worth billions of dollars, while Vetter’s lawyers called those concerns exaggerated, Reuters reported. The Songwriters Guild of America welcomed Monday’s outcome, according to Digital Music News. The clash concerns who controls and earns from songs after authors invoke termination rights.
The procedural outcome leaves the Fifth Circuit ruling intact without settling the legal question nationally. Music Business Worldwide noted that the ruling binds federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, while other courts could reach a different conclusion. For songwriters and publishers, the distinction matters: this case is resolved, but broader disputes over worldwide recovery remain possible.
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