Marvin Fisher D/B/A Marvin Music Company and Jack Segal v. Rick Dees, Atlantic Recording Corporation, Warner Communications, Inc.

SNEED, Circuit Judge:

The plaintiffs-appellants, Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal, appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment disposing of their federal claim for copyright infringement and their state-law claims for unfair competition, defamation, and product disparagement. We affirm.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The plaintiffs-appellants, Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal (the composers), composed and own the copyright to the ’50s standard “When Sunny Gets Blue” (the song). In late 1984, a law firm representing the defendants-appellees — disc jockey Rick Dees, Atlantic Recording Corp.,…