Vetting Vetter: Berne, Termination, and the Novel Theory That Could Change Everything | AM26

Copyright termination has long been understood as a domestic remedy,  a mechanism for U.S. creators to reclaim rights granted under U.S. law. The Vetter litigation has upended that assumption, with the Fifth Circuit now holding that a valid termination notice may reach not just domestic rights but a creator’s copyright interests worldwide. That result has drawn sharp criticism, but the critics’ argument rests on a prior question about international copyright architecture that neither the courts nor the commentators have fully resolved. This panel will work through what the Fifth Circuit actually held, where the analysis is strong, where it remains vulnerable, and what are the practical implications that practitioners need to be thinking about right now.