GREENFIELD v. PHILLES RECORDS


98 N.Y.2d 562 (2002)

780 N.E.2d 166

750 N.Y.S.2d 565

RONNIE GREENFIELD et al., Respondents, v. PHILLES RECORDS, INC., et al., Appellants, et al., Defendants.

Court of Appeals of the State of New York.

Decided October 17, 2002.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP, New York City (Andrew H. Bart and David C. Rose of counsel), for appellants.

Edwards & Angell LLP, New York City (Ira G. Greenberg and Idelle R. Abrams of counsel), and Peltz & Walker (Alexander Peltz of counsel) for respondents.

Owen & Davis P.C., New York City (Henry G. Burnett and Mark D. Bradford of counsel), and Berliner Corcoran & Rowe, L.L.P., Washington, D.C. (Jay A. Rosenthal of counsel), for Recording Artists' Coalition, amicus curiae.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP, New York City (Dale M. Cendali, Diana M. Torres and Olivier A. Taillieu of counsel), Matthew J. Oppenheim, Washington, D.C., Steven Marks, Stanley Pierre-Louis and Gary Greenstein for Recording Industry Association of America, amicus curiae.

Judges LEVINE, CIPARICK, WESLEY and ROSENBLATT concur; Chief Judge KAYE and Judge SMITH taking no part.


OPINION OF THE COURT

GRAFFEO, J.

In this contract dispute between a singing group and their record producer, we must determine whether the artists' transfer of full ownership rights to the master recordings of musical performances carried with it the unconditional right of the producer to redistribute those performances in any technological format. In the absence of an explicit contractual reservation of rights by the artists, we conclude that it did.

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases