That’s when Congress altered the Copyright Act of 1976 to provide that sound recordings are “works made for hire” that can’t be reclaimed. The change prompted such an uproar in the music industry that Congress retracted the provision a year later, the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe partner recalls.

Fast-forward to this week, when John Waite, Joe Ely, David Johansen and other musicians backed by Blank Rome filed two putative class actions. They allege that Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group have “routinely and stubbornly refused” to relinquish their copyrights on musical works more than 35 years old. The labels once again argue that the recordings are works made for hire, which carves them out from the termination provisions of Section 203 of the Copyright Act.

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