The Italian composer Ennio Morricone can pursue “a few dollars more” following a Second Circuit reversal Wednesday about his rights to the scores of six spaghetti-western films produced in late 1970s and early 1980s. 

Responsible for creating some of the most lush and iconic film scores in the history of cinema, the 90-year-old Morricone persuaded an appellate panel in Manhattan today that the scores he produced for Italian music publisher Bixio were not “works made for hire” under either Italian law or U.S. law. The Second Circuit’s determination allows Morricone to terminate the assignment of the copyrights to Bixio after 35 years, reversing a previous order of summary judgment.