Supreme Court Upholds Songwriters' Worldwide Copyright Rights in Blow to Major Music Labels

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, October 19, 2026, upheld a ruling allowing songwriters to reclaim worldwide copyrights to songs they sold decades earlier, impacting major music labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and BMG. This decision, which did not establish a nationwide precedent due to a lack of quorum, leaves intact a lower court's judgment in the case of Cyril Vetter, who reclaimed rights to his 1962 song 'Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love).'