[2] Naxos Records restored and issued on CD a number of mid-20th century sound recordings, including several classical music performances by Pablo Casals, Edwin Fischer, and Yehudi Menuhin.

[3] Capitol sued Naxos in the Southern District of New York, which held that because the items were in the public domain in their country of origin (the United Kingdom), they were also in the public domain in the US.

[3] Because common law copyright was not bound by federal and international rules regarding expiration into the public domain, Capitol's claim survived.

[3] The case was hailed in some quarters, and critiqued in others, but most commentators acknowledged that it was a "landmark",[6] and "groundbreaking"[7] decision, carrying significance for both music preservation and commercialization of recordings before 1972.

That case, Flo & Eddie v. Sirius XM Radio, ruled that no such common law right to public performance existed in New York.