Stone v. Williams (Stone I)

873 F.2d 620 (2nd Cir 1989)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Cathy Stone (P) brought this action for her share of copyright renewals to songs composed by Hank Williams Sr., her natural father. The defendants were Hank Williams Jr., the son of Hank Williams, and a number of music companies. The dispute arose over the copyright renewal proceeds for 60 published and copyrighted songs written or performed by Hank Williams Sr. Sr. died intestate in January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. P was born January 6, 1953, five days after Sr. died. Sr. had executed an agreement under which he acknowledged that he might be the father of P, but specifically he did not admit to paternity. The agreement provided that Sr. would pay for support. Eventually Lillian Stone adopted P, and the natural mother left for California. Until her death in 1955 Stone cared for P. At that point, Sr.’s sister reneged on her promise to care for P. P became a ward of the State of Alabama and at the age of 3 a foster child of the Deupree family. That family adopted her in 1959. Sr. had a son Jr., and the assignment of Jr.’s copyright interests in his father’s music generated litigation in 1967-68. A guardian ad litem was appointed to ascertain any unknown potential heirs and to represent their interests. That attorney determined that the only known such person was P. The Deuprees asked that P be left out of the 1967 proceedings because they did not want to upset the life of their 14-year-old adopted illegitimate daughter. The guardian did litigate P’s interests but to no avail. The Alabama court determined that Jr. was the sole heir of his father and that P as a natural child had been adopted and thus had no rights in Sr.’s songs or their renewal. Eventually, the truth came out, and P found out about parts of her past in 1973. Eventually, in 1980 P stepped up her efforts to learn about her relationship to Sr. P filed a declaratory judgment complaint on September 12, 1985, seeking a number of declarations; that she was the daughter of Sr. and was entitled to a portion of the renewal rights from the songs. P also alleged a conspiracy that Ds attempted to defraud her. In a state action, the Alabama court held that P was not an heir under Alabama law. The federal district court granted Ds’ motion for summary judgment based on the doctrine of laches. P appealed.