POP/ROCK - June 15, 1987

A copyright suit filed against Lionel Richie by an amateur composer must go to trial, a 9th U.S. Court of Appeals judge has ruled. The suit, filed in 1985 by Gene Thompson, a Los Angeles janitor who has composed a number of copyrighted songs, alleged that Richie’s 1983 song “Stuck on You” infringed on a song he copyrighted in 1980, “Somebody’s Got to Love Her.” The appeals court reversed Los Angeles judge James Ideman’s ruling in favor of Richie, including the order that Thompson pay court costs.