Supreme Court lets Fifth Circuit worldwide copyright-termination ruling stand
After the Supreme Court affirmed by quorum on October 19, 2026, the Fifth Circuit's Vetter holding stands: U.S. copyright termination can recapture foreign rights, reshaping music catalog valuations and financing terms.
In Vetter v. Resnik, the Fifth Circuit held on January 12, 2026 that terminating a 1963 worldwide assignment under Section 304(c) recaptured the grant's foreign rights, rejecting the music industry's long-standing assumption that termination affects only U.S. rights. On October 19, 2026, with four Justices recused, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment under 28 U.S.C. Section 2109 as if by an equally divided court, so no Supreme Court precedent was set and the opinion binds only federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Counsel should note the exposure: Section 203 and 304 termination windows are now opening across large parts of 1980s and 1990s catalogs, so foreign performance and mechanical income may revert to authors. That reaches catalog valuations, royalty securitizations, secured borrowing bases, and diligence scope, representations, indemnities, escrows and forum-selection clauses in pending transactions. A U.S. declaration of worldwide ownership does not bind foreign courts, collecting societies or licensees, so recognition abroad remains contestable case by case.
Watch for a Second or Ninth Circuit split, further certiorari petitions, and foreign test cases on worldwide recapture.