Songbyrd, Inc.v. Estate Of Grossman

23 F.Supp. 2d 219 (1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In the early 1970s, Henry Roeland Byrd produced tapes in a Baton Rouge recording studio.

The tapes came into the possession of a predecessor in interest to Bearsville Records, Inc. Over time several requests have been made by representatives of Byrd to secure return of the tapes. In August 1986, Bearsville licensed recordings to Rounder Records Corporation, which in 1987 released an album of Byrd's music produced from the recordings. In 1991, another recording based on the disputed master recordings was released by Rhino Records. That release was made possible by a licensing agreement between Bearsville and the production company. Songbyrd (P) sued Grossman (D) in state court in Louisiana. P sought damages and a declaration of rights. The action was removed by D to the Eastern District of Louisiana. D then moved to dismiss the claim on the ground that the court lacked personal jurisdiction and the claim was barred by Louisiana's period of prescription. The district court granted the motion. P appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed; the claim was not prescribed under Louisiana law. On remand, the district court found lack of jurisdiction and transferred the case to New York. D motioned the New York district court to dismiss in that the statute of limitations had run. P claimed that the statute of limitations began to run when the demand for the return of the property was refused.