Brown

*420 Former and current members of the band WAR filed a breach of contract action alleging that their music publisher had failed to pay them a share of the royalties generated from public performances of the band's songs.

The publisher filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the parties' music publishing agreement did not require it to pay the band any *421 royalties derived from song performances. Plaintiffs, however, argued the agreement was ambiguous, and filed extrinsic evidence in support of their interpretation. The trial court concluded the agreement was not reasonably susceptible to the plaintiffs' proposed interpretation, and granted judgment in the publisher's favor. We reverse.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Background Information Regarding the Music Publishing Industry

A music publishing agreement is a contract between a songwriter and a publishing company that sets forth the ownership of the copyright in the subject musical compositions, and the division of revenue generated from the use of those compositions. Under the traditional form of music publishing agreement, the songwriter assigns his or her copyright interest in the composition to the publisher. In…