“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” never goes away, and at least for now, neither is litigation over the holiday novelty song. Last Wednesday a federal district court judge refused to dismiss a copyright infringement action brought by Elmo Shropshire, who first performed “Grandma” in 1979. The decision leaves Shropshire free to continue his suit against Aubrey Canning, Jr., who uploaded a version of the song to YouTube four years ago. Both sides have high-powered counsel: DLA Piper is representing Shropshire, and The Lanier Law Firm has been advising Canning.

Shropshire co-owns the copyright for “Grandma” with Patsy Trigg. In a motion to dismiss Shropshire’s suit, Canning contended that Shropshire was required to join Trigg in his action. Judge Lucy Koh initially said the same thing when she dismissed Shropshire’s first complaint in a January 2011 ruling. But the following month Shropshire filed a second complaint in which he added Trigg as a defendant. The two then reached a settlement last August in which Shropshire dismissed Trigg from the case.

As a result, “circumstances have changed,” Judge Koh wrote in her Wednesday ruling. “Trigg was given the opportunity, but refused to be joined as a plaintiff and chose not to claim an interest in the litigation,” said Koh, who sits in San Jose.

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