The Supreme Court has left in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that gave songwriter Cyril Vetter worldwide rights to “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love),” but it did not decide whether U.S. copyright-termination law extends to foreign copyrights. Reuters reported the court rejected the music labels’ challenge. GV Wire reported that four justices did not participate and that the remaining justices determined the case could not be resolved in the coming term. Reuters and GV Wire reported the action.
The ruling’s international reach remains contested
The Fifth Circuit’s decision is binding in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. It does not require courts in other countries to recognize a change in ownership of copyrights there; Music Week’s analysis says those courts would apply their own domestic law to local rights. The outlet also warns that publishers and catalogue owners with worldwide assignments could face challenges to non-U.S. revenue and recommends reviewing catalogues for works whose writers may have termination rights. Those are Music Week’s assessments, not issues the Supreme Court resolved. Music Week discusses both the foreign-law caveat and potential industry exposure.
The dispute over “Double Shot”
Vetter and Donald Smith wrote the song in 1962, and the Swingin’ Medallions recorded it in 1966. They transferred their copyrights to Windsong Music Publishers in 1963; Smith died in a plane crash in 1972, according to GV Wire.
Vetter sent Windsong a termination notice in 2019 with an effective date of 2022. Resnik Music Group bought Windsong later that year. Vetter sued Resnik in federal court in Baton Rouge in 2023, alleging that it continued to claim exclusive rights to exploit the song overseas. For grants made before 1978, the applicable termination period is generally 56 years, GV Wire reported.
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick ruled for Vetter in 2025, declaring him the sole worldwide owner of the reclaimed copyright, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed in January 2026. BMG, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music acquired Resnik’s copyright interest after the appeals court ruling and challenged it. The labels argued that applying termination law to foreign copyrights would unsettle industry practice and conflict with the statute; Vetter’s lawyers called those concerns overblown, according to GV Wire.
