## Facts

- Folkways, a music publisher, claimed copyright interests in “Mbube” and “Wimoweh,” and asserted rights relating to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
- Solomon Linda composed “Mbube” and assigned rights to Gallo Africa, Ltd., which registered a U.S. copyright claim in 1952; after the original term ended, renewal rights allegedly vested in Linda’s widow and were assigned to Folkways.
- Pete Seeger and the Weavers (as “Paul Campbell”) created an arrangement titled “Wimoweh,” assigned rights to Folkways, and Folkways registered the copyright in 1952; the copyright was renewed in Campbell’s name and later assigned to Folkways.
- In 1961, George David Weiss, June Peretti, and Luigi Creatore wrote “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” published it through Token, registered a copyright claim, and licensed uses.
- Folkways notified Token that “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” infringed “Wimoweh”; Token ceded its publisher rights to Folkways, and the parties executed a 1961 agreement that included acknowledgments of infringement, assignments, and an arbitration clause.
- When the original term for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” ended (1989), the songwriters asserted that renewal-term rights belonged to them; Folkways refused to pay for renewal-term rights, and the songwriters demanded arbitration.
- An arbitration panel determined that renewal rights in “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” belonged to the songwriters upon commencement of the renewal term and were free of any claim by Folkways.
- The district court confirmed the arbitration award and granted summary judgment to the songwriters; Folkways appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the arbitrators exceeded their authority or manifestly disregarded governing law by awarding renewal rights in “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” to the songwriters and rejecting Folkways’ competing theories based on “Mbube” and “Wimoweh.”
2. Whether the district court erred in confirming the arbitration award and granting summary judgment for the songwriters under the limited standard of judicial review of arbitral awards.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the district court.
- The court held the arbitrators did not exceed their powers and did not manifestly disregard the law.
- The court upheld confirmation of the award granting the songwriters renewal rights in “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” free of claims by Folkways.
- The court sustained summary judgment for the songwriters because Folkways failed to show any permissible basis to vacate the award.

## Legal Principles

- Judicial review of arbitration awards is highly limited; courts do not revisit the merits of an award or correct ordinary errors of law or fact.
- “Manifest disregard of the law” requires proof that arbitrators knew a clearly governing legal rule and intentionally refused to apply it or ignored it altogether.
- Interpretation of an agreement containing an arbitration clause is generally within the arbitrators’ delegated authority; a court may not overturn an award merely because it would interpret the contract differently.
- Statutory copyright renewal interests are distinct from the original term and may revert to the author at the renewal term absent a valid, controlling assignment; an arbitrator’s plausible application of renewal doctrine will not be vacated under deferential review.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit affirmed confirmation of an arbitration award holding that the songwriters, as authors of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” owned the renewal-term rights and that Folkways had no continuing claim against those rights, because Folkways did not meet the strict standards for vacating an arbitration award.


Folkways Music Publishers, Inc. v. Weiss, 989 F.2d 108 (2d Cir. 1993)