Hendricks & Lewis PLLC v. Clinton, No. 13-35010 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseMusical artist George Clinton appealed the district court's order appointing a receiver and authorizing the sale of copyrights in an action against his former law firm. The firm obtained judgments against Clinton for past-due attorneys' fees and sought an order authorizing the sale of master recordings that Clinton recorded with the group Funkadelic (the "Masters") to satisfy the judgments. The court concluded that Clinton's copyrights in the Masters were subject to execution to satisfy judgments entered against him; Section 201(e) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 201(e), does not protect Clinton from the involuntary transfer of his copyrighted works; the district court did not abuse its discretion by appointing a receiver to manage or sell ownership of these copyrights; Clinton may raise claims of fraud on the court and judicial estoppel for the first time on appeal, but both claims are meritless; and Clinton failed to raise his preemption, Erie Doctrine, and Due Process Arguments in the district court. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Copyright. The panel affirmed the district court’s order appointing a receiver and authorizing the sale of master sound recording copyrights in an action between musician George Clinton and his former law firm Hendricks & Lewis. Hendricks & Lewis obtained judgments against Clinton for past-due attorneys’ fees, and moved for an order authorizing the sale of master recordings made by Clinton to satisfy the judgments. The panel held that under Washington law Clinton’s copyrights in the masters were subject to execution to satisfy judgments made against him. The panel also held that § 201(e) of the federal Copyright Act did not protect Clinton from the involuntary transfer of his copyrighted works. The panel further held that under Washington law the district court did not abuse its discretion by appointing a receiver to manage or sell ownership of the copyrights. The panel held that Clinton may raise claims of fraud on the court and judicial estoppel for the first time on appeal, but concluded that both claims were meritless. Finally, the panel held that Clinton failed to raise his preemption, Erie doctrine, and due process arguments before the district court, and, therefore, they would generally not be considered, and in any event they were without merit.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 26, 2014.
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