[3] Acuff-Rose was formed by country music performer Roy Acuff and Fred Rose, a major Nashville music-industry figure and songwriter, who had a respected ability as a talent scout.
[2] Many country performers had been badly cheated in the past with regard to copyright and other rights to their creations.
[6] Acuff-Rose had its headquarters on 8th Avenue South in the Melrose district of Nashville and was something of a landmark to those knowledgeable of the music industry.
Williams proved to be a significant signing, by subsequently releasing a string of both country, and pop hits.
Lefty Frizzell, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, The Everly Brothers, Mickey Newbury, Dallas Frazier, and Whitey Shafer were some of the significant songwriters signed exclusively to Acuff-Rose in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.
In dispute was the use by rap artist Luther Campbell (then using the alias "Luke Skyywalker") and his band 2 Live Crew of a substantial amount of the Roy Orbison hit song "Oh, Pretty Woman" in a parody.
However, this was reversed at the appellate level by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.