De Sylva v. Ballentine

De Sylva v. Ballentine, 351 U.S. 570 (1956), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held after the death of an author, the widow and children are eligible to renew copyright, equally as a class. Additionally, conditional on state laws, illegitimate children are also eligible for a share of the copyright.[1]

De Sylva v. Ballentine
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 25–26, 1956 Decided June 11, 1956
Full case name	De Sylva v. Ballentine
Citations	351 U.S. 570 (more) 76 S. Ct. 974; 100 L. Ed. 1415; 109 U.S.P.Q. 431
Case history
Prior	Ballentine v. DeSylva, 226 F.2d 623 (9th Cir. 1955); cert. granted, 350 U.S. 931 (1956).
Holding
After the death of an author, the widow and children are eligible to renew copyright, equally as a class. Additionally, conditional on state laws, illegitimate children are also eligible for a share of the copyright.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas Harold H. Burton · Tom C. Clark Sherman Minton · John M. Harlan II
Case opinions
Majority	Harlan, joined by Warren, Reed, Frankfurter, Burton, Clark, Minton
Concurrence	Douglas, joined by Black

This extension to children and widows was not considered retroactive by courts, however. In Easton v. Universal Pictures Co., 288 N.Y.S. 2d 776 (1968), a 1951 document assigning control of a copyright from the author's family after his death was invalidated because "they had, in fact, as the law then appeared to be, nothing to assign." Another limitation to this new right of inheritance was that the family would not be eligible to renew the copyright if it had been passed permanently to another party,[2] which was in line with Fred Fisher Music Co. v. M. Witmark & Sons.[3]