POP/ROCK - Oct. 21, 1987

The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that songwriter Lloyd Chiate has sufficient grounds to pursue a copyright infringement case against Stevie Wonder over the hit song “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” The appeals court on Monday ordered a full hearing to examine Chiate’s claim that Wonder’s hit single duplicates Chiate’s own copyrighted composition. A U.S. District Court judge earlier threw out Chiate’s claim when the court found that Wonder had obtained a license to record the song from Chiate’s co-writer, Lee Garrett. The district court ruled that a valid, non-exclusive license from a song co-owner is a complete defense to a copyright infringement claim, but the appeals court overturned the dismissal because Chiate alleges that he still owns the copyright.