Now that Christmas is over, Santa Claus is coming to court.
The heirs of J. Fred Coots — a co-writer of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” — are suing music publisher EMI Feist Catalog in Manhattan federal court over the copyright to the popular holiday tune.
Coots died in 1985, four years after inking a deal to sell his share of the copyright for $100,000, plus royalties.
But his heirs — who say the copyright is worth millions — claim they canceled that deal in letters sent in 2004 and 2007.
Those letters are meaningless, though, because Coots’ kin also signed the 1981 agreement, EMI lawyer Donald Zarakin said.
The family filed a similar suit in Florida last year, but it was tossed earlier this month on a technicality.
Zakarin said “they wasted their own time and money” on the Florida suit, adding that “their continued pursuit here will be a further waste of their time and money.”