Ithier v. Aponte-Cruz (El Gran Combo Royalty Dispute)
No. 22-1859, First Circuit (June 18, 2024)
Relevant Facts
- Rafael Ithier founded El Gran Combo in 1962 and created EGC Corp. to administer his rights.
- Carlos Aponte-Cruz was lead vocalist from 1973 to 2014, performing on over 200 recordings.
- Under the DPRA, 45% of digital transmission royalties are paid to featured recording artists.
- SoundExchange had been remitting all royalties to EGC Corp., which had not distributed any to individual members.
Decision of the Court
The First Circuit reversed the district court’s summary judgment for Ithier and EGC Corp., holding that Aponte-Cruz is entitled to his portion of the 45% featured-artist share for the recordings at issue. The statutory text "recording artist or artists featured on such sound recording" refers to individual natural persons, not artificial entities. "Perform" means to "recite, render, play, dance, or act"—actions performed by people, not corporations. Individual band members are "featured" through the band's name.