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`Plaintiff,
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`v.
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`PATRICE Y. EVERLY, PHILLIP J.
`EVERLY, CHRISTOPHER EVERLY,
`THE PHILLIP EVERLY FAMILY
`TRUST and EVERLY AND SONS
`MUSIC (BMI),
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`
`Defendants.
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`
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`Case No. 3:17-cv-01440
`Judge Aleta A. Trauger
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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
`NASHVILLE DIVISION
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`ORDER
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`For the reasons discussed in the accompanying Memorandum, setting forth the court’s
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`findings of fact and conclusions of law following a bench trial, the court hereby DECLARES as
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`follows:
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`1. Don Everly expressly repudiated Phil Everly’s authorship of “Cathy’s Clown” prior to
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`June 1980 and more than three years before the defendants filed their Counterclaim, as a result of
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`which the Counterclaim is time-barred, and the defendants are legally estopped from claiming that
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`Phil Everly was a co-author of “Cathy’s Clown.”
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`2. Because the defendants cannot, as a matter of law, establish that they are the statutory
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`successors of an author of “Cathy’s Clown,” they are estopped from claiming or exercising rights
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`granted to an author and the statutory successors of an author of “Cathy’s Clown,” a copyrighted
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`work, including the right to terminate a grant of copyright, the right to register any rights in
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`Case 3:17-cv-01440 Document 104 Filed 05/04/21 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 2320
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`“Cathy’s Clown” with BMI, the U.S. Copyright Office, or any other parties, and the right to
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`2
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`redirect any moneys derived from “Cathy’s Clown.”
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`3. The 1980 Release is not a grant subject to termination under the Copyright Act.
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`4. Plaintiff Donald Isaac Everly properly terminated the 1960 Grant by virtue of the 2011
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`Notice to Sony and is the 100% owner of the U.S. rights of termination with respect to the work
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`“Cathy’s Clown” and the owner of 100% of the songwriter royalties from “Cathy’s Clown.”
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`
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`The Clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment for the plaintiff and to dismiss the
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`Counterclaim in its entirety, with prejudice.
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`
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`This is the final order in this case, for purposes of Rule 58 of the Federal Rules of Civil
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`Procedure.
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`It is so ORDERED.
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`
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`ALETA A. TRAUGER
`United States District Judge
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`
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`Case 3:17-cv-01440 Document 104 Filed 05/04/21 Page 2 of 2 PageID #: 2321
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