Supreme Court recusals leave Vetter ruling on worldwide copyright reclaims in place
Four justices stepped aside on 19 October 2026, so the court could not hear the appeal by BMG and the three major labels. A ruling that lets creators reclaim rights worldwide, not only in the US, stands.
The US Supreme Court could not hear an appeal by the three major record companies and BMG against a ruling that lets songwriters and artists reclaim their copyrights worldwide, not only in the United States. On 19 October 2026 four of the court's nine justices recused themselves, leaving it without a quorum, so the lower court's decision stands.
The case
The dispute, BMG v Vetter, is about US termination rights. Under the Copyright Act, authors or their heirs can in certain circumstances end a transfer or licence of their copyright, but only by serving written notice and only within a fixed statutory window. In January 2026 the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled, in a case over the 1963 song "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" by Cyril Vetter, that a termination can take back rights around the world.
The labels have issued stark warnings about the possible impact on the industry and took the case to the Supreme Court. The legal news service MLex reported that, with four recusals, the court lacked a quorum and the Fifth Circuit's opinion was affirmed. MLex added that the order does not create binding precedent on worldwide termination.
Not settled yet
Music Ally stressed that this was not a ruling on the merits. Citing Billboard, it noted that other federal appeals courts, including those covering New York and Los Angeles, are not bound to follow the Fifth Circuit. Music Ally expects more argument in the lower courts, and a different ruling elsewhere could bring the question back to the Supreme Court.
That leaves an uneven position. The worldwide reading has come through its first test at the highest court, but only because the court could not sit on the case, and other circuits have yet to decide the same question.
What it means for acts
Termination has to be claimed by written notice within a fixed window, so this matters most to writers and artists, or their heirs, whose older grants of rights are becoming eligible. Anyone preparing a notice should take legal advice on whether rights outside the US can be included, since the answer may depend on which court would hear a dispute. Acts signing new deals can expect labels and publishers to look harder at how long-term grants of rights are worded.
