Musical groups use various ways to create compositions they ultimately record. One is for the members to create lyrics and music collaboratively. Having done so, they register copyrights as joint works, jointly assign the copyright in the compositions to a music publisher while retaining a songwriter’s share of income, and register the song as joint composers with the performing rights organization of their choice, such as BMI. The Everly Brothers followed that pattern for their 1960 No. 1 pop hit, “Cathy’s Clown”—except perhaps actually co-authoring the song.

In 1980, seven years after the duo broke up, Don Everly, the older brother, asserted that he was sole author notwithstanding several public acknowledgements to the contrary. Don had brother Phil sign a “release and assignment” that ceded to him 100 percent of songwriter royalties. Also, depending on interpretation, that document either acknowledged that Don was sole composer from the start or else merely authorized Don to take credit publicly as sole author—at least until the authors’ rights to terminate grants under §304(c) of the Copyright Act could take effect 56 years after publication.

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