Vetter asks Supreme Court to reject publishers' bid to overturn worldwide copyright ruling
Songwriter Cyril Vetter has asked the US Supreme Court to leave intact a ruling that lets American songwriters reclaim their copyrights around the world.
Vetter's lawyers filed the request on Monday, September 14, the deadline set by the court. The filing, known as a brief in opposition, answers a June 11 petition from four publishers: Capitol CMG, Essential Music Publishing, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing and BMG Rights Management, Music Business Worldwide reported.
The stakes are global. At issue is termination, the part of US copyright law that gives creators a second chance to take back rights they signed away earlier in their careers, after a set period of time has passed.
On January 12, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that when a songwriter uses that US termination right, the rights come back everywhere, not only inside the United States. The case, listed as Vetter v. Resnik under docket No. 25-30108, declared Vetter the sole owner of the recaptured copyright interest globally.
The four publishing companies want that decision overturned. In their June petition, now docketed at the Supreme Court as No. 25-1391 under the caption BMG v. Vetter, they argued the Fifth Circuit got the law wrong. The publishers have previously told the court the worldwide reading will cause chaos for licensing and ownership, Music Business Worldwide reported.
That warning matters because songs are often split between writers, publishers and territories. If one writer can reclaim worldwide control through US law, companies that bought or administer those rights in other countries could lose them in one move.
The dispute centres on Sections 203 and 304 of the Copyright Act, the two termination provisions for transfers made at different periods. The Supreme Court docket shows the case was docketed on June 16, 2026, with BMG Rights Management (US) LLC and others listed as petitioners and Cyril E. Vetter and others as respondents.
Outside groups have already weighed in. The Motion Picture Association, the global recorded-music body IFPI and Paramount each filed an amicus brief, a filing by an outside party offering the court its view on the case.
For songwriters, this means a practical question. A US-only rule would require them to fight country by country to get rights back. A worldwide rule would bring the foreign share home with the US notice.
What happens next is procedural. The justices will decide whether to hear the publishers' challenge. If they grant review, the case will determine whether the Fifth Circuit's worldwide approach to termination survives. If they turn it away, the January ruling stands.
