Understanding the Term “Disp” in Court Proceedings

So ya’ll know how much I love a $1 legal word that has absolutely so little to do with my day job in the law firm. So this week’s word my homies in Pop ‘stache world is disp. That’s right, disp. I know I know, but really follow me in through the rabbit hole on this one. Disp – here’s how the lawyers call it – is from a Latin term called “disponat,” meaning dispose. Disposed of – kinda like your left over Chinese food after a late night bender.

For you industry insiders, the word is often used in connection with federal court rules, particularly in music copyright cases before the U.S. District Courts where a “determination on the merits” is made. In the music world, there are many disputes over who has the right to sing what songs and they frequently end up in court being decided on the “merits.” Many times, you will hear the term applied to the court fi-inals, if you will. Okay so, that’s long winded and all, but what it really means is how a court is going to decide on the issue being disputed in the case. In other words, equivalent to your rights to royalties for the songs you are releasing to the public (or not) after a judge or jury makes a decision on the “merits” of your case.

Okay, or you could actually get a lesson on when and how to properly copy someone else’s work (please see below for what I mean by copy). In literally street terms, disp refers to a way of disposing of court disputes on the “merits” of the case without having to go through all the formality of a trial. And I mean trial as in courtroom US style. This can be done through a summary judgment, where the court finds that since there are no factual issues, the facts have been agreed upon by both sides, so a judge can decide the issues without another side saying why it shouldn’t have been decided the way it was. It can also happen when both parties agree to dispose of the issue themselves, without waiting for a long and expensive process of trying to prove who is more right than the other.

For example, if I were to say I completely own the rights to whatever random song and both parties say this is true, then what the court has to do next is determine shall mortgages be paid off….I mean damages be paid. So the summary judgment process has already determined what happened and the cheaper and faster way is legally to understand what disp means in court and move on to the “damages.”

Now of course, because I’m a hopeless pop stacher, I couldn’t leave this post without a little music history quip. At least once a week I run up on a song that reminds me of another better or older song that has probably been ripped off. Not too many people know, for instance, that Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (which was awarded the song of 2013) is almost a carbon copy of Marvin Gaye’s post-humous hit “Got To Give It Up.” Or that Earl Flirck’s hit “Detroit Rock City” ripped off Allman Brother’s famous banter part in its own hit “Sweet Home Alabama.” And yes, I did say Sweet Home Alabama. Okay, okay I already know that everyone loves it. I’ll admit I do too. But let’s be honest, Lynyrd Skynyrd was the band upon which the entire Southern Rock movement was launched.

That being said, the whole lawsuit over this song was disped – I mean over one line of the song. The line in question? From one Lynnard to another, “well I heard Mr. Young sing about her.” Thanks mother Reed. The only difference in the song (as of late) is that now it says “well I heard ol’ Neil put her down” instead of “Mr.” Young. Thank you Niel Young. But this was the ultimate disp ever served on a hit record. Far be it from me to say this, but the first record release of “Sweet Home Alabama” was only a few short years after “Southern Man” which pretty much dissed the entire South. I reckon if I was from the south and I messed up like that, I’d have to “disp” like that too. But hey journalism and law dudes and dudettes, today I focused on giving you a word that isn’t even a legal term at all, but is thrown around in the law books like money in the ghetto, and is an important term in the world of the music industry, so don’t be a hater. Just make sure ya’ll know how to use it. Breathe! In…Out. Now go ahead and sig that contract before I get to the good part.