A new lawsuit claims a composer of the University of Michigan’s iconic “Let’s Go Blue” marching band anthem wrongly got the song removed from Electronic Arts’ successful College Football video game series.
Albert Ahronheim, who co-wrote “Let’s Go Blue” while studying at Michigan in 1975, faces federal copyright and contract interference claims in a Tuesday (March 10) complaint. The case was brought by music publishing companies Theodore Presser and Carl Fischer, which have administered the “Let’s Go Blue” composition rights since 1978.
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According to the lawsuit, Presser and Fischer scored a lucrative synch deal with Electronic Arts (EA) in 2024 to place the song in College Football, which had recently returned from a long hiatus after the NCAA loosened player restrictions on name, image and likeness. The publishers say College Football became “the all-time best-selling sports video game in the U.S,” and Ahronheim was paid royalties for the synch.
However, trouble later arose when Ahronheim began to assert that he actually owned the song’s composition rights, not Presser and Fischer. Ahronheim allegedly demanded that EA either buy a license from him directly or remove “Let’s Go Blue” from College Football. The video game juggernaut chose the latter.
“Ahronheim’s acts as described above, including but not limited to his threat to commence litigation against EA and his false statement of copyright ownership to EA were wrongful and improper, because Ahronheim has and had no legal right to assert any claim of copyright ownership in the composition,” reads the lawsuit. “As a result of Ahronheim’s actions, EA has discontinued the use of the composition in past and future editions of the game.”
The ownership dispute stems from the so-called termination right, a tenet of copyright law that allows artists and songwriters who sell their work to claw back the rights after 35 years. Termination rights have recently become a hot-button issue in music law, with a major appeal ruling questioning their global reach and Salt-N-Pepa invoking them in a messy ownership fight against Universal Music Group.
Ahronheim sent Presser and Fischer a termination notice back in 2011, asserting that he wanted to take back the “Let’s Go Blue” composition rights when the 35-year window closed in 2013. But the publishers say this notice was invalid and unenforceable because of a technicality: Ahronheim failed to make an official report to the U.S. Copyright Office before the 2013 effective date.
Now, Presser and Fischer are asking a judge to declare that they are, in fact, the sole owners of the “Let’s Go Blue” rights. They’re also seeking financial penalties for Ahronheim’s alleged interference with the EA sync license.
“Plaintiffs have been damaged by Ahronheim’s tortious acts in an amount to be determined at trial, because such acts have injured plaintiffs’ existing economic relationship with EA,” the lawsuit says.
Ahronheim could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday. EA did not return a request for comment.
