Joy Music, Inc. v. Seeco Records, Inc.

WEINFELD, District Judge.

Parties remain free to substitute private licensing agreements for the protections afforded them by section 1(e) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.A. § 1(e). 1 Whether they have indeed done so is the question presented here. The parties have departed from the exact terms of the statute by varying the accounting period, lowering the royalties for several songs and dispensing with notice requirements. These mutually convenient variations, however, are not sufficient to support the contention that theirs was a private licensing agreement enforceable in state courts only.…