Hugo Peretti Heirs Can’t Reclaim Elvis Song, Second Circuit Says

Heirs of renowned songwriter Hugo Peretti failed to convince the Second Circuit they had a right to reclaim rights to the composition behind Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

In a 1983 agreement, Peretti and his family sold their contingent rights to the song that would arise during a copyright renewal period set to begin in 1989. Peretti’s death in 1986, however, extinguished the right he assigned and the 1983 agreement effectively became his heirs’ assignment of their rights to the song, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said.

Peretti’s heirs later tried to revoke the ...