To Sue or Not to Sue
As a general rule, as soon as you have money, someone will want it. To some, the best way to go about getting a piece of someone else’s pie is to find some way in which they have wronged you, turn it into a legality, and file a lawsuit. The problem comes in ensuring the cost of the legal proceedings are worth the reward. This is especially true in the music industry, where a large scale suit can award tens — if not hundreds — of millions of dollars. On the downside, legal fees tend to be proportionally exorbitant.
Within the last couple of months several big cases have been in the news. DM Records, whose catalogue includes artists like Tupac and Prince, and tracks as lucrative as “Whoomp (There It Is)”, is suing Warner Music Group for allegedly withholding digital sales revenues relating to a non-exclusive distribution deal. At the same time, Gate Five LLC, a video game company, is suing Beyonce for $100 million for allegedly backing out of a contract, resulting in 70 layoffs and effectively destroying the company. Additionally, Dionne Warwick and the Shirelles are going after a Broadway producer for allegedly using their names and likenesses without permission in the musical Baby It’s You.
While independent artists may be a long way from taking on Warner, starring in video games, or being written into Broadway shows, there are other cases that are somewhat more relevant, albeit on a different scale. Christina Aguilera is facing a lawsuit over a sample of “Hippy Skippy Moon Strut” by Dave Cortez and the Moon People used in her 2006 hit track “Ain’t No Other Man”. The suit claims that Sony, the label to which Aguilera is signed, paid Codigo Music and the Clyde Otis Music Group for the sample, though the plaintiff, TufAmerica, claims to have bought the rights to the sampled work in 2004.
This case is both a testament to the need to do your research before sampling a song, and a cautionary tale: Xtina and Sony may have the legal and financial resources to tackle this suit and/or settle out of court, but indie artists generally don’t. Sampling another person’s work, especially one that can afford high end representation, could be financial suicide if the rights to do so are not ironed out correctly in advance. You could end up owing the sampled artist a huge chunk of your royalties as well as punitive damages, not to mention your own legal fees and possibly theirs.
While Aguilera’s legal battle is just getting under way, Dr. Dre’s has finally wrapped up. Just over a year ago he filed a suit against Death Row Records for unpaid royalties from digital sales of his 1992 album The Chronic. The courts ruled that Dre was entitled to 100% of digital sale proceeds, and that the label, which in recent years was bought out by WIDEawake, could no longer license any material from the album without Dre’s permission, preventing them from putting the tracks on compilations with weaker material to boost other sales.
This case is more of an example of the importance of contracts and accounting than anything else. In 1992, digital sales were an unheard of concept. They would not have been explicitly written into the original contract and were likely outlined either in an amended version or supplementary contract. Keeping track of what your contract covers and, in the wake of new technology, doesn’t cover can have a huge impact down the line; as can monitoring your income and ensuring you’re receiving everything you’re due. You may need it when the next album goes platinum and someone comes running for a piece of your pie.
by: Amy Plachta
