A Manhattan federal judge had harsh words for plaintiffs in a minor copyright case that had proceeded all the way to trial but was dismissed after only a few hours.

Southern District Judge Richard Sullivan found the plaintiffs' only trial witness—the principal of two companies that claimed Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. had willfully infringed copyrights by playing six songs on the radio— contradicted years of amended complaints by saying his companies didn't hold the copyrights.

The plaintiffs attorney also said the witness, Raul Bernard, had recordings of the songs being broadcast on the radio after previously telling the judge the recordings were missing.