Goodman v. Lee

• Decision Date: 20 April 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-3775,91-3775
• Parties: , 26 U.S.P.Q.2d 1693 Shirley GOODMAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Audrey LEE and Nikki N. Lee, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 619

988 F.2d 619

25 Fed.R.Serv.3d 746, 26 U.S.P.Q.2d 1693

Shirley GOODMAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Audrey LEE and Nikki N. Lee, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 91-3775.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 20, 1993.

Irwin Spiegel Osher, Beverly Hills, CA, Madeleine Fischer, George R. Alvey, Jr., Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, New Orleans, LA, for defendants-appellants.

Richard E. Bennett, Bennett & King, New York City, David Robert Paddison, Covington, LA, for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Before WISDOM and DUHE, Circuit Judges, and DOHERTY, ¹ District Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Shirley Goodman, sued Audrey Lee and Nikki Lee, widow and surviving child of Leonard Lee, who died in 1976 ("Lees"), for authorship and copyright and ownership rights to the 1956 Rock and Roll hit, "Let the Good Times Roll," recorded by Leonard Lee and Shirley Goodman when they performed professionally as the duo of "Shirley and Lee." This case has had a long and varied procedural history leading to and through the trial on January 14 and 15, 1988 which this Court need not fully recite at this time. However, after a jury found in favor of Plaintiff, Defendants filed a series of post trial motions, ostensibly pursuant In response to Plaintiff's motion, Defendants-Appellants argued to this Court that the judgment issued by the district court was not a final judgment, as damages were not fixed with particularity and, therefore, this Court has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal of Defendant-Appellants. This Court was thus faced with the unique situation whereby Appellants were arguing this Court had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal filed by them and Appellee was arguing this Court had jurisdiction over the appeal which he had filed a motion to dismiss on other grounds.

                to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50, 52, 59 and 60(b)(3).   On February 19, 1988, the district court denied Defendants-Appellants' motion for a directed verdict.   Subsequently, on February 13, 1990 the district court denied Defendants-Appellants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and in the alternative, motion for a new trial.   Plaintiff-Appellee filed a notice of appeal of that order on March 14, 1990.   The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal as the order appealed was not final on May 4, 1990, as the district court had not yet ruled on the Magistrate's recommendations pursuant to Defendants-Appellants' motion entitled as Rule 60(b)(3).   The motion entitled as a Rule 60(b)(3) was denied by the district court on August 14, 1991, wherein Defendants appealed the entire judgment to this Court on September 11, 1991.   Defendants-Appellants' appeal was opposed by Plaintiff in a motion pursuant to Federal Rules of Appellant Procedure 4(a)(1) and (4) claiming Defendant-Appellants' appeal was untimely, as appeal delays had expired on all issues except the denial by the district court of the motion entitled under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3)
                

For the following reasons, we DENY Plaintiff-Appellee's motion to dismiss Defendants-Appellants' appeal as untimely; however, nonetheless, dismiss the appeal, as this Court does not have jurisdiction over a judgment which is not final.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff-Appellee, Shirley Goodman, sued Audrey Lee and Nikki Lee, widow and surviving child of Leonard Lee, for authorship and copyright ownership rights to the 1956 Rock and Roll hit "Let the Good Times Roll," recorded by Leonard Lee and Shirley Goodman when they performed professionally as the duo of "Shirley & Lee" from 1953 through 1961. Plaintiff, Shirley Goodman, claimed that the duo wrote songs that took the form of questions and answers, Shirley writing the girl's lyrics and Leonard writing the boy's lyrics; thereafter, together they would hum a melody to go along with the words. Plaintiff claims that she and Leonard Lee wrote "Let the Good Times Roll" over a period of two (2) to three (3) weeks in 1956 in this manner. However, Leonard Lee obtained a copyright to the song, "Let the Good Times Roll," solely in his name and began receiving writer's royalties beginning in 1956. After Leonard Lee's death in 1976, his wife and son, Audrey and Nikki Lee, began to receive the writer's royalties and subsequently applied for and secured a renewal of the copyright to "Let the Good Times Roll" on April 30, 1984.

On July 9, 1985 Shirley Goodman filed suit against Audrey and Nikki Lee for declaratory judgment to establish her claims of co-authorship. Additionally, she sought an accounting from the Lees for one-half of the royalties and other payments received from the song and "such damages plaintiff has sustained on [sic] such damages as to the Court shall appear proper."

On February 2, 1986 the Court granted a motion by the Lees for summary judgment, dismissing Plaintiff's action finding total diversity did not exist. Subsequently, on May 1, 1987 this Court reversed and remanded, holding that Plaintiff's claim for declaratory judgment to establish co-authorship of a copyrighted musical composition was a federal question arising under federal copyright laws and, therefore, federal question jurisdiction existed.

The Lees thereafter filed a motion for summary judgment, based on the three year statute of limitations provided in § 507(b) of the Copyright Act as well as laches arguing Shirley Goodman's twenty- Prior to trial, both sides substituted new counsel. Defendants filed a motion for a two week continuance to obtain "newly discovered" evidence located in the correspondence files of the copyright office, which Defendants alleged would show that Shirley Goodman had learned about Leonard Lee's sole authorship credit on the original copyright registration years before 1984. The Court denied Defendants' request for a continuance and stated that if proper, relief from a tainted judgment could be obtained under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3).

                nine (29) year delay in asserting her claim barred her claim.   Defendant's motion for summary judgment was denied, the prescription issue referred to the merits, and the case fixed for trial on January 14, 1988
                

This case was tried to a jury on January 14 and 15, 1988. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff finding that Shirley Goodman was the co-author of the song "Let the Good Times Roll" and that she "did not know or should not have known" until 1984 that Leonard Lee listed himself as the sole author on the copyright register for "Let the Good Times Roll." The jury further found that Leonard Lee had concealed from Shirley Goodman the fact that he claimed sole credit for the song and that after Leonard Lee's death, Defendants, Nikki and Audrey Lee, also concealed from Shirley Goodman the fact that there were earnings from the song "Let the Good Times Roll." The district court entered a "Judgment" on February 29, 1988. The "Judgment" declared that Shirley Goodman "was entitled to one-half of the income from the song from 1956 to date, together with prejudgment interest thereon, and all costs." No set amount of income or damages was awarded in the judgment. The Court furthered ordered, "that the registrar of copyrights shall rectify the records of the copyright office to indicate that plaintiff, Shirley Goodman, is the co-author and joint owner of the copyright registration and renewal thereof for the song entitled, "Let the Good Times Roll," and that the copyright records be corrected (1) to show Leonard Lee and Shirley Goodman as co-authors under Registration No. EU444079 through the first term of the copyright; and (2) to show Shirley Goodman as one-half owner of the renewal estate of the copyright to "Let the Good Times Roll" by issuance of a certificate of renewal under regulations of the copyright office.

On March 10, 1988 Defendants filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, entitled as a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 and in the alternative, motion for a new trial entitled as a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). Additionally, on March 10, 1988 Defendants sought relief from judgment pursuant to a motion entitled under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3). The district court on February 13, 1990 denied the Rule 50 motion by Defendants for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and in the alternative, motion for a new trial. After referring the Defendants' motion entitled under Rule 60(b)(3) twice to the Magistrate for evidentiary hearing and after holding its own evidentiary hearing, the district court denied Defendants' motion entitled under Rule 60(b)(3) fraud on August 14, 1991. This appeal was filed on September 11, 1991 by Defendants-Appellants pursuant to the final district court ruling.

ANALYSIS

The Court will first address Plaintiff-Appellee's allegation this appeal was not timely filed. Plaintiff-Appellee claims that the Lee's appeal was untimely with the exception of the denial by the district judge on August 14, 1991, of Defendants-Appellants motion entitled as a motion under Rule 60(b)(3) (fraud).

A judgment as a result of trial was entered on February 29, 1988; all the post-trial motions were filed by Defendants on March 10, 1988, within ten (10) days of the filing of the judgment.

In this circuit the bright line rule for determination of when appeal delays begin to run is stated in the holding Harcon Barge Co., Inc. v. D & G Boat Rentals, Inc., 746 F.2d 278 (5th Cir.1984), reh'g granted, 760 F.2d 86 (5th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 930, 107 S.Ct. 398, 93 L.Ed.2d 351 (1986), and more recently in the opinion of this Court in Prudential-Bache Securities, Inc. v. Fitch, 966 F.2d 981 (5th Cir.1992). This Court has held the determination of appeal delays in regard to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59 and 60 is based on the time of filing and not the title given the motion. ² Therefore, all delays for appeal were...