最高法院拒绝推翻音乐版权终止权裁决：创作者收回权利适用全球 四大厂牌上诉被拒
华盛顿——据路透社报道，美国最高法院10月19日拒绝受理多家音乐厂牌对一项版权裁决的挑战，维持下级法院的判决：允许创作者终止版权转让、收回权利的法律规定适用于全球范围，而不仅限于美国版权。位于新奥尔良的联邦第五巡回上诉法院此前在词曲作者 Cyril Vetter 一案中支持其主张。Vetter 与已故的 Donald Smith 于1962年共同创作摇滚歌曲《Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)》，1963年将版权转让给 Windsong Music Publishers，该曲1966年由 The Swingin' Medallions 唱红。BMG、索尼音乐、环球音乐集团与华纳音乐的出版部门随后上诉至最高法院，称若该裁决生效将引发混乱，并威胁价值数十亿美元的协议。九名大法官中有四人未参与本案审议，且未说明回避理由；其余大法官认定本案无法在当前开庭期内解决，下级法院的裁决因此维持生效。美国版权法规定，在特定条件下，艺术家可在数十年后终止早年的版权转让并收回权利，例如1978年之前的转让须已满56年，且作品不得为职务作品；该条款旨在弥补无名艺术家当年议价能力不足的问题。美国词曲作者协会（SGA）主席 Rick Carnes 对最高法院的决定表示欣喜，称其组织对这一结果感到振奋，并将坚决维护这一判例。
Supreme Court Won't Overturn Landmark Music Copyright Termination Ruling
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on October 19 rejected a challenge by a group of music labels to a judicial decision holding that the law allowing creators to terminate copyright grants and reclaim their rights applies globally, not only to U.S. copyrights, Reuters reported. The justices left in place a ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals siding with songwriter Cyril Vetter in a dispute over 'Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love),' a 1960s rock hit he co-wrote with the late Donald Smith. Vetter and Smith wrote the song in 1962 and transferred their copyrights to Windsong Music Publishers in 1963; the Swingin' Medallions made it famous in 1966. The publishing arms of BMG, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music appealed, arguing the ruling would cause chaos and threaten agreements worth billions of dollars. Four of the court's nine justices did not participate and gave no reason for their recusal; the remaining justices determined the case could not be resolved in the coming term, leaving the lower court's ruling in place. U.S. copyright law allows artists, under certain conditions, to terminate transfer agreements after decades and reclaim their rights — for example, pre-1978 grants must be at least 56 years old and the work must not have been made for hire — a provision meant to address the weak bargaining power of unknown artists. Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America, said the organization was 'thrilled and gratified' by the decision.
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：位于华盛顿的美国最高法院大楼（资料照片）。Kjetil Ree摄，CC BY-SA 3.0授权图片，经Wikimedia Commons发布。
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