SCOTUS couldn't take up a copyright case because four justices have book deals

The Supreme Court declined to take up a high-stakes copyright dispute after four justices recused themselves because they have book deals with a publisher owned by a party tied to the case, leaving the bench without a quorum. By not hearing the petition, the Court effectively affirmed lower-court rulings that Cyril Vetter could terminate an old assignment and reclaim worldwide rights to the 1960s song “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love).” The central legal question left unresolved nationwide is whether statutory termination rights, triggered roughly 35-40 years after a grant, can include foreign rights - an outcome that would reshape how long-running music, film and photo rights are valued and traded.

The decision leaves a sharp circuit split intact: the Fifth Circuit, relying in part on the Berne Convention, has permitted reclamation of foreign rights, while the Second and Ninth circuits have long rejected that result under U.S. law. BMG Rights Management, which acquired the disputed interest, sought Supreme Court review but was blocked by recusals from Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett and Jackson; those recusals trace to publishing ties with Bertelsmann, the parent company of the publisher involved. Expect increased litigation, valuation uncertainty and forum-shopping as creators and rights holders press competing strategies in courts across the country. The case is BMG Rights Mgmt. LLC v. Vetter, affirmed Oct. 19, 2026.