Negron v. Rivera
| Citation | 433 F.Supp.2d 204 |
| Decision Date | 24 May 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ. 02-1729(HL).,No. Civ. 02-1728(HL).,Civ. 02-1728(HL).,Civ. 02-1729(HL). |
| Parties | Fernando Torres NEGRON, Plaintiff v. Antonio L. RIVERA, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Tamara S. Pascual, Pascual, Moran & Associates, Giovanni Jose Canino-Sanchez, Giovanni Jose Canino Law Office, Manuel A. Quilichini-Garcia, Quilichini Law Office, Julio A. De La Rosa-Rive, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.
Alfredo Castellanos-Bayouth, Castellanos & Castellanos PSC, Jose A. Hernandez-Mayoral, Hernandez Mayoral Law Office, Jose L. Machicote, Jose L. Machicote Law Office, Jorge I. Peirats, Herman G. Colberg-Guerra, Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez, San Juan, PR, James B. Sheinbaum, Borstein & Sheinbaum, New York, NY, for Defendants.
"There is nothing more horrible than the murder of a beautiful theory by a brutal gang of facts."
— Francois De La Rochefoucauld.
Before the Court are Defendant Antonio L. Rivera's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law;1 and Defendant J & N Records' motion for renewed judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial, to amend judgment or to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.2 Plaintiff Fernando Torres Negrón (hereinafter "Torres") filed an opposition to said motions 3 and defendants filed separate replies to Torres3 opposition.4
After a careful review of the record and submissions of counsel, the Court grants Defendants' renewed motions for judgment as a matter of law.
The facts, as presented at trial and viewed in the light most favorable to the jury verdict are as follows: Plaintiff Fernando Torres Negrón is a highschool teacher, musician, and song writer from Aibonito, Puerto Rico. At some point in 1992 or 1993, Ruben Cañuelas, a singer at that time for the musical group Tempo Merenguero, approached Torres and asked him to compose a song for Tempo Merenguero to be presented to the directors of the group. Torres accepted. One night in 1993, Torres was invited to Cañuelas' house. At his house, Cañuelas provided Torres with a cassette tape that contained several songs on it, so that Torres could listen to it and get a feel for the type of songs and style in which Tempo Merenguero played. The tape included recordings of Tempo Merenguero playing live. While still at Cañuelas' house, Torres listened to one of the songs, taking the rhythm and style of the music, and developed the song Noche de Fiesta. Torres immediately recorded himself singing Noche de Fiesta, accompanied only by clapping his hands, into the cassette tape. Torres also wrote down the lyrics of the song on a piece of paper. Torres did not make duplicates of this cassette tape or the paper containing the lyrics. Torres then gave Cañuelas the cassette and the piece of paper and never saw either item again. Cañuelas presented the cassette of Noche de Fiesta to the members of Tempo Merenguero. Torres never had a written agreement with Tempo Merenguero, but he orally authorized Tempo Merenguero to utilize Noche de Fiesta as part of the group's repertoire.
In 1992, before Torres wrote Noche de Fiesta, singer and songwriter Felipe Vasquez Robles, better known as Raldy Vasquez, composed the song Nena Linda.5 Nena Linda was commercially released in the phonorecord Raldy Vasquez "Comercial" on cassette tape in 1992 in Puerto Rico and later on compact disc in 1993.6 Nena Linda was also played on the radio in Puerto Rico in 1993. The songs Nena Linda and Noche de Fiesta are similar in that the songs share the same melody, tone, structure, and are in the key of A minor. The songs are different only in their wording and rhythm. Specifically, Nena Linda is a merengue bomba and Noche de Fiesta is a faster paced merengue maco. Torres does not remember whether the song that he listened to from the tape provided by Cañuelas to write Noche de Fiesta was Nena Linda but admits that it might have been that song. Tempo Merenguero was, at least in part, a cover band that performed songs written and performed by other artists.
In 1993 Defendant Antonio Rivera was director of the musical group Sabrosos de Merengue, which had released commercial recordings. In that year, Cañuelas informed Torres that Antonio Rivera had heard the song Noche de Fiesta played by Tempo Merenguero and had liked it. Cañuelas asked Torres if he would submit an additional song to Antonio Rivera for Antonio Rivera's approval. Torres agreed. At Cañuelas' house, Torres simultaneous wrote the lyrics and music for the song Bebo por Ti. Cañuelas provided Torres with a blank cassette tape, and Torres recorded the song accompanying himself only by clapping his hands. Torres also wrote the lyrics of Bebo por Ti on a sheet of paper. Torres did not make duplicates of either the cassette tape or lyric sheet. Cañuelas retained the original paper and the cassette to ensure that Antonio Rivera received the items. Torres never saw the cassette tape or the paper containing the lyrics after that date.
Torres was very pleased that Antonio Rivera was going to review his song. Torres knew at the time that he gave Ruben Cañuelas the cassette tape of Bebo por Ti that Cañuelas was taking it to Antonio Rivera for his review, and that if Antonio Rivera liked the song he might choose to record it. Torres was impressed and somewhat elated that Antonio Rivera, whom he admired for his standing in the music business community, would have agreed to review his cassette.
At some point in the early 1990s, under the direction of Antonio Rivera, the musical group Los Sabrosos del Merengue was transformed into the group Gozadera. Specifically, female dancers were added and several musicians that had previously played with Tempo Merenguero joined to form the new group known as Gozadera. Cañuelas became a singer and musician for Gozadera. In 1993 after submitting the cassette of Bebo por Ti to Antonio Rivera, Cañuelas informed Torres that Antonio Rivera liked the song and that Gozadera was going to record it. Ruben Cañuelas also told Torres that Gozadera was going to a recording studio to commercially record the song Noche de Fiesta. Subsequently, Torres attended one of the recording sessions for this Gozadera album. Torres knew that the album would be commercially released and would contain both Noche de Fiesta and Bebo por Ti performed by Gozadera with lead vocals by Cañuelas. As anticipated, the Gozadera album was released in 1993, under the title Bailando y Gozando con Gozadera.7 This phonorecord was produced by Antonio Rivera and distributed by Centro Records, a company owned by Antonio Rivera. Tracks two and seven of the phonorecord contain Noche de Fiesta and Bebo por Ti, respectively, and track nine contains a remix of Noche de Fiesta. The paper jacket accompanying the phonorecord credits Torres as the author for Noche de Fiesta and Bebo por Ti. The Centro Records' 1993 version of Bailando y Gozando con Gozadera was distributed exclusively in Puerto Rico.
In 1993 Ruben Cañuelas informed Torres that the record had been commercially released for sale, and Torres heard the song Noche de Fiesta being played on radio in Puerto Rico. Thereafter, Torres went to a record store and purchased a copy of the album. Torres was delighted that the record had been released and shared it with his family. At some point in 1994, after Noche de Fiesta had enjoyed a commercial release, Torres wrote a clean copy of the words to Noche de Fiesta from memory. Thereafter, the lyrics to the song were continuously copied on to clean pieces of paper with the passing of time.
After the 1993 Centro Records release of Bailando y Gozando con Gozadera, Torres spoke with Antonio Rivera about the songs Noche de Fiesta and Bebo por Ti on ten to fifteen separate occasions. Specifically, in 1995, Torres went to see Antonio Rivera at a travel agency that Antonio Rivera owned. Antonio Rivera told Torres that he would be paid royalties in the amount of three cents ($0.03) for each record sold and advised him to see Luis Rivera, owner of Luis Rivera Record Distributor, Inc. Torres went to Luis Rivera to collect money for the two songs. Thereafter, Luis Rivera provided Torres with two checks, dated March 24, 1995 and March 30, 1995, each in the amount of $450.00. These checks were royalty payments for the 1993 Centro Records' release of Bailando y Gonzando con Gozadera. Torres endorsed and deposited these checks. Torres also encountered Antonio Rivera at a Kmart store when Torres was employed there; at Holly's Pizza when Gozadera performed at that establishment; at a local patron saint festival; and repeatedly at Antonio Rivera's house. Torres would also occasionally accompany Cañuelas to Antonio Rivera's house when Cañuelas went to collect payment for performances. Every time that Torres met Antonio Rivera they would discuss the songs Bebo por Ti and Noche de Fiesta and their commercial progress or lack thereof. At no point, from when Ruben Cañuelas approached Torres to write the songs Noche de Fiesta and Bebo por Ti until the filing of the complaint, approximately ten years later on May 15, 2002, did Torres communicate any restriction on the use of the songs or tell Antonio Rivera or anyone else not to perform, record, sell, or distribute the songs.
When the 1993 Centro Records phonorecord Bailando y Gozando con Gozadera was released, Torres thought that it would be sold in both Puerto Rico and the continental United States. However, the 1993 Centro Records version of Bailando y Gonzando con Gozadera was sold only in Puerto Rico. In 1993 Antonio Rivera sold the master of the sound recording that he had produced of Gozadera to J & N Records Distributor, Inc. for a fee of $10,000.00 for distribution in the continental United States. In 1994, HMS Records released, in the United States, an album entitled Bailando y Gozando con Gozadera produced by Antonio Rivera and...
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