In this Sept. 29, 2016 file photo, Spanish singer Julio Iglesias smiles during his star unveiling ceremony at the Walk of Fame in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Cuban songwriter Mimi Korman filed a lawsuit on Monday, March 19, 2018, in Miami claiming that she wrote Iglesias' Spanish classic “Me olvidé de vivir.” (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

The title of Julio Iglesias's hit song “Me Olvide de Vivir” translates to “I Had Forgotten to Live.”

But a Miami songwriter's copyright infringement lawsuit suggests the only thing the famed crooner “forgot” was to pay his collaborator. Mimi Korman filed suit in federal court in Miami on March 19, alleging Iglesias approached her in 1978 to write Spanish lyrics to his now-famous song.

Iglesias, 74, is a Grammy winner and one of the world's best-selling artists. He rose to international fame in the 1970s and 1980s, and has since sold millions of albums. His litany of hits include “To All the Girls I've Loved Before,” recorded with country music superstar Willie Nelson, “Can't Help Falling In Love” and “My Love” with R&B legend Stevie Wonder.

Other famous duet partners include Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Luciano Pavarotti and Art Garfunkel.

The song at the center of the new suit once belonged to a French performer. But Korman alleged she helped Iglesias make it his own after he acquired the rights to create a Spanish version.

Korman claimed she was co-author with Iglesias, and gave him the rights to the lyrics in exchange for a percentage of the royalties once he produced and distributed the song. She alleged they had a contract, and that Iglesias credited her on album releases for decades — but never paid any royalties.

Korman said she signed a contract in 1978 but did not retain a copy.

“She relies on Julio,” one of Korman's attorneys, D. Fernando Bobadilla, said. “His lawyers never provide her with a contract. He never performs on the contract, and she never gets a cent.”

Bobadilla teamed with attorney Marcella S. Roukas for the litigation.

“This was not a work made for hire,” Bobadilla said. “(Korman) never agreed to that. She never ceded any rights to her authorship. My client owns the lyrics.”

The suit is Korman's third attempt to collect royalties on the nearly 40-year-old song. A 1990 suit against Iglesias in federal court failed in part because the statute of limitations had expired, and a state court action is pending in the Miami-Dade Circuit.

“My client … seems to be out of luck for something that Julio Iglesias does not dispute,” Bobadilla said. “He doesn't dispute that she authored the lyrics. He doesn't dispute that he didn't pay her anything. But because she didn't sue him early enough, he got away with it.”

No attorney had entered an appearance for Iglesias in the new suit. Steven E. Eisenberg, the Coral Gables attorney who represents the singer in the state court action, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Both previous actions made similar allegations of fraud in the inducement, civil theft and have asked the court for a constructive trust to collect the royalties.

Korman never raised copyright infringement claims until now—partly because a May 19, 2014, U.S. Supreme Court ruling created legal precedent in her favor. Before the decision in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., plaintiffs had a three-year window in which to bring infringement claims.

This changed when the high court reset the clock by ruling, “In short, each infringing act starts a new limitations period.”

Korman's suit this month allows her to look back three years for alleged infringements, and gives new life to her case. Her lawyers argued federal law entitles her to several remedies, including all profits. She could also collect statutory damages of up to $30,000 for each innocent infringement or up to $150,000 for intentional violations.

“My client alleges intentional infringement,” Bobadilla said.