Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder et al.

Decided January 8, 1985. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1153 · 469 U.S. 153 (1985) · Cited 145 times

Holding

Petitioner is entitled pursuant to 304(c)(6)(A) to a share of the royalty income in dispute under the terms of the author's grant to petitioner in 1940.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Fred Fisher Music Co. v. M. Witmark & Sons · 318 U.S. 643 (1943)
• Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. · 464 U.S. 417 (1984)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Ralston Purina Co. · 346 U.S. 119 (1953)
• Erlenbaugh v. United States · 409 U.S. 239 (1972)
• Chicago & North Western Railway Co. v. United Transportation Union · 402 U.S. 570 (1971)
• United States v. First City National Bank of Houston · 386 U.S. 361 (1967)
• TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC CORP. Et Al. v. AIKEN · 422 U.S. 151 (1975)
• Dawson Chemical Co. v. Rohm & Haas Co. · 448 U.S. 176 (1980)
• United States v. Article of Drug . . . Bacto-Unidisk · 394 U.S. 784 (1969)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co. · 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
• Stewart v. Abend · 495 U.S. 207 (1990)
• Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid · 490 U.S. 730 (1989)
• Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises · 471 U.S. 539 (1985)
• K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc. · 486 U.S. 281 (1988)
• Dowling v. United States · 473 U.S. 207 (1985)
• Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · 568 U.S. 519 (2013)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).