The Everly Brothers It is one of the Everly Brothers' signature songs — and its authorship has been a point of contention for decades. A Tennessee federal judge has sided with Don Everly in his long battle with his late brother Phil's family over who owns the rights to the Everly Brothers classic "Cathy's Clown." U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger for the Middle District of Tennessee ruled on May 5 that Don "expressly repudiated" his brother Phil's authorship of the song prior to June 1980, three years before the defendants filed their Counterclaim. As a result of which, the Counterclaim is time-barred, and the defendants are legally estopped from claiming that Phil Everly, who died in 2014, was a co-author of "Cathy's Clown."