# Majors and BMG lose Supreme Court fight over songwriters’ worldwide copyright reclaims

> Supreme Court rejects majors' challenge to let songwriters reclaim global copyright after technicality.
- Title: Majors and BMG lose Supreme Court fight over songwriters’…
- Summary: Supreme Court rejects majors' challenge to let songwriters reclaim global copyright after technicality. US Supreme Court upholds Fifth Circuit ruling…
- Keywords: supreme court, songwriters, copyright, bmg, universial music group, sony, warner music group, double shot, cyril vetter, donald smith, fifth circuit, windsong music publishers
- Source: Music Business Worldwide — https://musicbusinessworldwide.com/majors-and-bmg-lose-supreme-court-fight-over-songwriters-worldwide-copyright-reclaims-on-a-technicality
- Published: 2026-10-19T15:10:56+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: supreme court, songwriters, copyright, bmg, universial music group, sony, warner music group, double shot, cyril vetter, donald smith, fifth circuit, windsong music publishers
## Supreme Court declines to hear case
The majors and BMG lost their bid to get the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that lets songwriters reclaim their copyrights worldwide.
## Four justices recuse from case
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson took no part in the case, leaving the court short of six justices.
## Fifth Circuit ruling stands
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in January that songwriters can reclaim worldwide copyright after 56 years for pre-1978 works.
## Case involves Double Shot song
The case centers on Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love), a 1962 song written by Cyril Vetter and Donald Smith.
## Song rights transferred for $1
In 1963, Vetter and Smith assigned song rights to Windsong Music Publishers for one dollar.
## Vetter sues for worldwide rights
Vetter sued in 2023 to be declared sole owner of the song worldwide after his termination notice took effect in 2022.
## Fifth Circuit upholds Vetter’s claim
The Fifth Circuit ruled in January 2026 that Vetter is the sole owner of all rights to Double Shot worldwide.
## Publishers challenge Supreme Court
Four publishers bought Resnik’s stake and took the case to the Supreme Court, claiming the ruling would disrupt global copyright practices.
## Key takeaway

US Supreme Court upholds Fifth Circuit ruling allowing songwriters to reclaim worldwide copyright after 56 years for pre-1978 works.